"Power cuts started in Cuba back in 2019, when the first Trump administration started hammering the country with so-called maximum-pressure sanctions. They aimed to gouge the country's economy of billions of dollars a year, and, as a result, the communist government had to drastically cut fuel imports because it simply did not have the cash."
"Since late January, the Trump administration has imposed a total oil blockade of the island, meaning that for almost three months, no oil has come into the country. Unsurprisingly, in Cuba, which is heavily dependent on oil to generate electricity, it means that power cuts are becoming more frequent and longer."
"Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga announced that Cuban nationals living abroad, including in places like Miami in the US state of Florida, will soon be allowed to directly invest in their homeland and even own businesses in Cuba. That is a pro-market reform; there have been many of those in recent years."
Cuba's national power grid collapsed again, leaving most of the country without electricity while Havana gradually restores supply. Power cuts began in 2019 under Trump's maximum-pressure sanctions, forcing Cuba to drastically reduce fuel imports. Since Trump's return to office in January, the US imposed a total oil blockade on Cuba, preventing oil imports for nearly three months. This has intensified power outages across the island, which depends heavily on oil for electricity generation. Amid the crisis, Cuban officials announced pro-market reforms allowing Cuban nationals abroad to invest and own businesses domestically, potentially aligning with Trump administration demands benefiting the Cuban-American community in Florida.
#cuba-energy-crisis #us-sanctions-and-blockade #us-cuba-relations #economic-negotiations #oil-embargo
Read at www.aljazeera.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]