LETTER FROM MANICARAGUA

Castro has taken to the airwaves to explain the problem, but the blackouts mean not everyone gets the message, the Tribune's Gary Marx writes
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By Gary Marx
Tribune's Havana correspondent

MANICARAGUA, Cuba -- It's early afternoon in this sweltering town, but air conditioners are off, the lights are out and stereos are silent.

Like much of Cuba, Manicaragua is suffering through one of the lengthy blackouts that have plagued this island nation in recent months, setting residents on edge, fanning discontent and forcing Cuban President Fidel Castro to take to the airwaves to cool tempers.

"We have a crisis," Castro said this week during a national television broadcast to address the energy shortages.

The 78-year-old leader said there was no quick fix for Cuba's antiquated and problem-plagued electrical grid but pledged to significantly boost the island's electrical output.

Power failures are nothing new in Cuba, but they have intensified in recent months and changed life in large ways and small.

More than 100 factories are being temporarily closed to save electricity. The work and school day is being shortened by 30 minutes.

Daylight savings time will be kept through the winter months so students will not have to study in the dark if a blackout hits during the morning hours. Streetlights also are being dimmed, and air conditioners are being turned off during peak hours to conserve energy.

In Manicaragua, a town 175 miles southeast of Havana set amid lush rolling hills and renowned for its world-class tobacco, one of two local banks and its only currency exchange shop are closed during the blackouts.

The local photography shop can't print photographs without power. Restaurants can't serve ice cream or offer croquetas, a popular fried snack in Cuba.

Some residents are sleeping on rooftops or in doorways to cope with the stifling heat, which turns the town's cement-block homes into ovens.

"It's unbearable at night," said Marisa Alejo, a 43-year-old special-education teacher who tries to keep cool by fanning herself with a rolled-up newspaper or a piece of cardboard.

Yasmani Torres Alejo, Marisa's 15-year-old son, said his favorite discotheque is often closed because of a lack of power. So too is La Yaya, Manicaragua's only movie theater.

"People are afraid to go to the movies," explained Juan Carlos Aguila, La Yaya's manager. "Two weeks ago, we were 15 or 20 minutes into a movie and the power went out."

Diplomats and observers say the blackouts, lasting up to 12 hours a day, represent a sharp challenge to the leadership of Latin America's only communist state.

The last protest against the Cuban government occurred a decade ago when the island nation suffered a devastating economic crisis sparked by the collapse of the Soviet Union, then Cuba's main trading partner and the supplier of cheap fuel for its power plants.

Experts say they don't expect public protests to erupt this time because many Cubans are better off than in the early 1990s, when the nation suffered chronic power outages and food shortages.

Cubans also say they fear arrest or worse if they speak out against the government.

"There is a lot of fear and political manipulation," said Elsio Alejo, a 29-year-old Manicaragua farmer who is no relation to Marisa. "We don't have a way to protest what is happening."

But Castro's prime-time appearances Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on live television for a total of about seven hours indicates the government recognizes the gravity of the energy crisis, according to diplomats and observers.

Dressed in his familiar olive green uniform, Castro questioned top electrical officials during the broadcasts about the blackouts, which were attributed to inefficient power plants, faulty transmission lines and other technical problems.

Castro also listened as officials explained how workers at the nation's most important power plant broke a key rotor during routine maintenance. The plant, which supplies 15 percent of the nation's power, has been shut since May.

Cuban officials used Wednesday evening's broadcast to announce emergency conservation measures, though Castro acknowledged that some Cubans were probably not able to watch because of the power failures.

Marisa Alejo was one of those who couldn't tune in. "There was a blackout," she said.

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