Cecilia Seppia, Piotr Kowalczuk
„Again in darkness, again without water, with temperatures nearing 40 degrees during the most severe energy crisis in history. It’s hell. Last Friday, for the second time this week, the entire power system collapsed,” says President Bondi, “Restoring power from the main power plants could take several days.”
Causes of the failure
As is widely known, Luca Bondi points out, the causes lie in the dire state of outdated power plants, which are 40 to 60 years old. Moreover, there is a lack of spare parts, and over a hundred oil-fired power plants have stopped operating due to a lack of oil. Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero openly admits that the situation is very serious. He points to the American blockade, which prevents oil tankers from reaching Cuba. The lack of energy supply currently affects 10 million Cubans.
Fight for survival
The lack of energy on the island leads to a humanitarian tragedy that reduces daily life to a struggle for survival – explains Luca Bondi, who has practically lived in Cuba for 28 years, ever since St. John Paul II said in Havana: “Cuba is opening up to the world, and the world is opening up to Cuba.”
Without water in the grip of heat
“Long-term power outages across the country are not just about lack of lighting,” Bondi explains, “but a chain reaction. In large cities like Havana and Santiago, the shutdown of electric pumps means an immediate interruption of running water supply.” And this, in turn, makes homes uninhabitable due to the heat. Newborns, the elderly, and the sick are forced to spend nights on the streets, squares, and sidewalks, because it is somewhat cooler there.
Hospitals on the verge of collapse
However, the lack of energy is most acutely felt in hospitals and healthcare and social care facilities, where power outages make it impossible to save lives and cool essential medicines.
As Bondi says: “The population is suffering, barely making ends meet, sick children do not receive adequate care and are dying like flies. The elderly are lost, mothers do not know how to provide their children with essential products, and food prices are skyrocketing.”
Risk of epidemic
President Bondi warns that in most of the most densely populated areas, basic sanitation is lacking, and the inability to wash or drink clean water promotes the emergence of infectious disease outbreaks. The first confirmed cases of cholera are already beginning to appear among the homeless.
Container of Solidarity
According to President Bondi, in the face of collective exhaustion, the mobilization of international solidarity represents the only spark of hope. The association “Seeds of Hope” launched a nationwide campaign in Italy last March under the slogan “Cuba in the Heart.”
This project mobilized schools, parishes, associations, and Italian institutions across the country. A large container of humanitarian aid will soon arrive on the island. This may seem like a drop in the ocean, but as Bondi says: “This initiative will be a relief for Cubans. These are not only extremely useful gifts for hospitals, schools, senior centers, and centers for the disabled, but above all, an expression of our solidarity with a kind and peaceful nation.” He reminds: “This nation, during the most dramatic period of recent years of our history, namely the Covid epidemic, did not hesitate to send us 52 healthcare workers, 37 doctors and 15 nurses, to support Italian hospitals and offer, even risking their lives, help and expertise.”
