The darkness and me

Night falling in Quito, Ecuador. October 2024. Photo © Dawn Marie Paley.

Opinion • Lisbeth Moya González • January 17, 2024 • Leer en castellano

Cuba’s electric system collapsed on the morning of October 18, leaving the entire country without power. As the island was—yet again—plunged into darkness, Cubans had to find creative solutions to carry on, like cooking with coal or sleeping in the doorways of their houses to withstand the heat. These days the outages are intermittent and less severe in Havana then in the provinces. But the blackouts have never completely gone away, and Cubans know darkness could return at any moment.

In the Andes it isn’t as hot, which means Quito is more bearable without power, except for the sound of electric generators that growl throughout the city. The most recent energy crisis in Ecuador began on June 19, 2024, when we experienced the first national blackout since 2016. The next day the government declared a national emergency, because Colombia had stopped selling energy to Ecuador. 

Toward the end of July the crisis worsened due to drought, which led to the depletion ofthe main reservoirs that supplied the country with hydroelectric power. Over the last three months of the year, there were daily cycles of 8 to 12 hours without electricity nationwide.  

In addition to the end of energy sales from Colombia and the drought, the crisis has been caused by a lack of maintenance of hydroelectric plants and the failure to prioritize alternative energy sources. On November 17, Colombia resumed the sale of electricity to Ecuador, but the crisis is far from being resolved.

I am a Cuban writing from Quito on borrowed time. We now have electricity 24 hours a day, but are waiting for news from the electric company to find out when "abnormal life" will begin again, when we’ll have to schedule our days around power cuts.

Ecuador in the dark

The blackouts in Quito and Havana make it more complicated for a migrant like me to talk to my family back home. When I was balancing communications between two cities in the dark, I could only connect with my parents and friends for a few minutes a week.

I do have some resources to help me through: a gas stove, a rechargeable lamp and batteries to keep my router, computer and cell phone charged. The absence of the suffocating heat that envelops Cuba makes it easier to cope. But the blackouts in Quito are lonlier, and the fear of being a victim of violence is overwhelming.

In the dark, fear permeates the mood of the people. The result is that public space empties out, which makes walking through the city is more dangerous.

The failure of the power system and the violence are not the only crises impacting Ecuador today. According to the National Institute of Statistics and the Census, unemployment in Ecuador rose to 3.7 percent in November 2024, two percent higher than what was reported one year prior. In a country where the labor market is stagnant, the electricity cuts led to losses to the national economy of US$13 million every hour.

On January 5, electoral campaigns began in Ecuador. On February 9, Ecuadorians will choose a new president at the polls. In this stage of the electoral campaign there is a certain calmness, because we know new energy shortages would tarnish the image of current president Daniel Noboa, who is running for reelection.

According to polling, Noboa fell 10 points due to the blackouts and the forced disappearance and murder of four children from Malvinas, Guayaquil at the hands of the Armed Forces.

Years without light

If I added up all the hours I’ve lived without electricity in Cuba and Ecuador, the result would be a few years.

I was born in 1996, in the middle of the Special Period on the island. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 brought darkness, as Cuba’s dependence on the USSR meant it didn’t develop a productive economy. Instead it survived through the exchange it carried out with Soviet countries through the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. 

But it was an unequal exchange, one which turned Cuba into a producer of raw materials, especially sugar cane. Cuba depended heavily on Soviet fuel and parts from the USSR to sustain its electrical system. The isolation brought on by the collapse of the socialist camp meant the government could not sustain electricity consumption.

Blackouts in Cuba tapered down in 2004. Four years earlier, at the beginning of his government, Hugo Chavez signed an agreement with Fidel Castro to supply around 53,000 barrels of oil daily to the island in exchange for medical missions. That agreement has continued under Nicolás Maduro. But in 2023, the flow of fuel from Russia and Mexico, Cuba’s other main suppliers, decreased.

Cuba's alliance with progressive governments in the region also played a role, in this context Ecuador’s Rafael Correa was a key player. The Cuban state, once again dependent on its relationship with supplier countries, was not able to improve its electrical system. Blackouts began again in 2019, alongside the rise of the right wing in Latin America and the economic crisis in Venezuela.

Since then, Cuban power plants regularly break down and go offline, leaving the island without electricity, sometimes for several days. The lack of fuel is patent in the absence of public transportation and long lines to buy gasoline, a scarce commodity.

Cuba’s east is one of the areas most affected by political repression, economic crisis and a lack of electricity. In May 2024, residents of Baracoa protested an 18-hour blackout. After the energy crisis of October 2024, Baracoa was without electricity for more than two days. At the same time, Hurricane Oscar tore through the city, leaving at least six people dead. The government did not warn the inhabitants of the oncoming disaster, not were they evacuated.

Cuba continues to experience blackouts. On Tuesday, January 14, the Electric Union announced simultaneous disconnections across 37 percent of the island. It seems like 2025 will be another dark year for Cubans.  

Similarities and differences

Although there are similarities between the energy crises in Cuba and Ecuador in terms of the lack of investment by both countries in the sector, the case of Cuba is more critical. This is due to U.S. sanctions, the dependence on oil to generate electricity and the lack of oil on the island.

For its part, Ecuador is facing its most severe drought in 60 years, which is due to climate change. The rivers that feed the main hydroelectric plants are at extremely low levels. In both countries, the energy crisis also has to do with the lack of diversification of ways to produce electricity.

The introduction of the Energy Transition Law, which will regulate Cuba's transition to renewable energies, is expected to be approved in December 2025, which means this calendar year the Cuban government will continue to cope with the crisis as it has in years previous. Ecuador, on the other hand, is betting on the privatization of the electrical system and the purchase of energy from Colombia, as well as promoting the use of renewable energies through a new law.

Romanticization and joking about blackouts are common coping strategies used by people who live through them. I remember the blackouts of my childhood as moments of games and family time. There were always jokes. "Cubans know the name of the power plants as if they were members of their family," we’d say.

Years later, in Ecuador, I’ve heard similar jokes. But I’m no longer a child, and I understand that romanticization was my how my parents tried to ensure I’d have a happy childhood in the midst of precariousness.

"Dinner by candlelight. Thank you Noboa," I shared recently on my WhatsApp status. The response from my compatriots was not long in coming: "The darkness is following you."