When the power outage began late on Friday, most of the approximately ten million inhabitants were affected. During Saturday, the authorities managed to get a minimum of electricity supply up and running, including to hospitals.
There are also small private generators that, among others, restaurants and bars are starting up to be able to stay open.
You get used to it, says lawyer Jorge Suárez, who on Saturday had a beer at just such a place.
It's like the animals in the desert – they have to adapt to living without water.
The power system is still based on aging and unreliable power plants that run on imported fossil fuels. The regime blames much of the problems on the fact that the USA has a trade embargo against the country.
Instead, one has to turn to allies like China, Russia, and Turkey for help. Turkey has sent floating, barge-based generators. And China, which dominates the global solar energy industry, has a key role when it comes to building large-scale solar power now.
The government has promised to build at least 55 solar panel parks this year, a quantity that is supposed to cover 12 percent of the island's electricity needs.
