Blackouts brew unrest in Cuba's Santiago
STORY: A crowd swarms a state run market in Cuba's Santiago de Cuba, jostling for a chance at a once-monthly ration of government subsidized chicken.
But panic ensues as rumours of scarcity spread and that's when the lights go out, again.
''This is life here'' this father-of-two explains.... "You live with no plan basically."
A dozen residents in Santiago neighborhoods told Reuters of their frustration at food shortages and electricity outages that sometimes top 10 hours a day.
A long-standing U.S. trade embargo and related sanctions, as well as an inefficient state-run economy, have led to shortages of food, fuel and medicine, while Cuba's obsolete power plants cannot meet demand.
The Caribbean outpost of Santiago is the former home of Fidel Castro and an area sympathetic to the 1959 communist revolution.
But street vendors like Yoni Alberto Mena are becoming angry.
“Imagine at 2 in the morning a blackout? These children start sweating, and itching, and it’s when they feel hungry. It’s annoying. They go to school in the morning not wanting to. They can’t learn what is taught at school properly. This is primitive.”
Tensions even led to a rare public protest earlier this month, with several hundred gathering in a local park chanting "power and food", according to first-hand accounts.
Social media videos showed a smaller group shouting "freedom" as local Communist Party leader Beatriz Johnson prepared to speak with the crowd from a rooftop.
The protests have been called largely peaceful and in the weeks following, the power supply has become more regular and food rations are being distributed by the government, according to residents.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited the area on Thursday (March 21) and blamed the U.S and 'capitalist media' for stoking protests, saying he is willing to speak with upset citizens.
Reuters requested an interview with Communist Party officials to discuss the earlier demonstrations but received no response.
