A fridge that can’t be opened because of the rotten scent of food left for two days, and a child who never saw the light (the electrical and fuel-powered bright lamp) not because of financial restrictions, but because Cuba is facing power outages that sometimes last 18 hours of the day. This leaves families, hospitals and huge production factories just six hours to access electrical needs. Hospitals around Cuba are canceling surgeries, manually bringing people to life without life support systems and Cubans buying medicine from the black market as there is no access to pharmacy shelves because of the US blockade. Of the 651 essential medicines Cuba usually provides, over 60% are currently in short supply or unavailable because of import hurdles. This makes the death rate grow exponentially, as doctors lack the antibiotics without which the human body can’t fight a virus, and because they lack electricity, they lack the ability to provide people with treatment for leukemia.
Globally, there are countries without electricity due to a lack of infrastructure or international trade to provide resources for their citizens. Currently, Cuba is left without basic human needs, both because of the infrastructure that was never renewed from Soviet times and the US sanctions that are stopping oil from entering the country, the main fuel needed for everything to work. The sanctions began in the 1960s when Cuba was an ally of the Soviet Union, the biggest enemy of the US. Although the allies of Cuba changed to Venezuela and Russia, it still poses a threat to the United States by being just 90 miles away from Florida. The limitations were meant to pressure the people into holding free elections and to make the current government resign. The blockade is mainly focused on preventing tankers carrying fuel from Cuba’s allies to Cuba. As some countries found it dehumanizing, the US warned that those who intend to sell fuel to Cuba would instantly face an increase in tariffs.
Having unscheduled power outages that might occur in the middle of a heart transplant surgery, and having no fuel for the backup generators to run, leads to despair. The desperation makes Cubans walk 20 miles or more just to reach clinics that might have better supplies. Due to a lack of fuel, ambulance cars are sitting in parking lots unable to provide urgent help to people. There is no transportation; at the same time, school classes are canceled because children can’t get to school. Family incomes have decreased because there is no way to get to work.
While technicians are trying to make “magic” with the old technological systems, people are praising the doctors who, no matter what, still walk to work, do their best to secure the necessary medications, and get back to the patients with an emergent need for treatment.