Message from President Díaz-Canel
The situation of the National Power System in the last few days has been especially tense.A shortfall of more than 2,000 MW is forecast for today during the period of peak demand, or the evening peak.This dramatic worsening has a single cause: the genocidal energy blockade that the U.S. has imposed on our country, threatening any nation that supplies us with fuel with irrational tariffs.This Wednesday, for example, the amount of power that cannot be generated in #Cuba due to fuel shortages caused by this criminal blockade amounts to 1,100 MW.The best proof of what we are saying lies in the noticeable improvement in service during the month of April. The arrival at a Cuban port of just one fuel tanker—out of the eight needed each month at a minimum—made it possible to reduce the deficit and, with it, the blackouts, which, although they did not disappear entirely, were mitigated.
In recent days, U.S. media outlets that serve the warmongering agenda of that country’s federal agencies have expressed bewilderment at the heroic resistance of the Cuban people and the steadfastness and unwavering unity of our government. They have been forced to acknowledge that, despite the brutal economic and energy strangulation measures the U.S. has imposed, Cuba remains standing; it is not a failed state.In doing so, they admit that the crisis gripping us is the result of the severe economic war imposed on us and the energy blockade. In short: what the spokespeople for the U.S. regime try to portray to the world as a direct consequence of mismanagement by the Cuban government is, in reality, the result of an evil plan aimed at pushing the people’s shortages and hardships to extreme levels.Neither the blockade imposed more than six decades ago nor the 243 tightening measures imposed by the previous Trump administration, were able to overthrow the Revolution.That is why they issued an executive order that completely blocks the supply of fuel to Cuba and another that targets and penalizes those who trade with or invest in Cuba.
It is an evil scheme whose primary goal is to inflict suffering on the entire people, to take them hostage and turn them against the government.The easing of some blockade measures a few years ago clearly demonstrated the significant advantages that would benefit the people of Cuba and the U.S., trade relations between the two countries, and our nation’s economic and social development, if this draconian policy did not exist.A small group of far-right extremists fears this improvement; they have hijacked policy toward Cuba and deliberately and cynically spread misinformation about Cuba's reality, demanding greater suffocation and threats against our people.Our response remains the same: always open to dialogue on equal terms, we will continue to resist and build, increasingly convinced that it is up to us to overcome these enormous difficulties through our own efforts, united as a nation, and steadfast in facing the toughest challenges.