[00:00] Talia Bennett: Breaking news this morning.
[00:02] Talia Bennett: Talia Bennett has the details.
[00:04] Announcer: From Neural Newscast, I'm Talia Bennett.
[00:07] Talia Bennett: And I'm Thatcher Collins.
[00:09] Announcer: Cuba's electrical grid suffered a total collapse today, Monday, March 16th, according to the
[00:16] Announcer: country's power operator.
[00:18] Announcer: This marks the first total nationwide blackout since the United States effectively shut
[00:23] Announcer: off the flow of oil to the island in January.
[00:26] Announcer: The failure has left roughly 10 million people without electricity, and follows months of
[00:33] Announcer: intermittent power cuts that had already been lasting up to 15 hours a day.
[00:38] Talia Bennett: The situation stems from a critical fuel shortage.
[00:42] Talia Bennett: President Miguel Diaz-Canel stated on Friday that no oil has been delivered to the island in the last three months
[00:49] Talia Bennett: While Cuban officials point to United States economic sanctions as the primary cause,
[00:54] Talia Bennett: analysts also cite a long-term lack of investment in an aging generation system
[00:59] Talia Bennett: that has seen six major blackouts in the last 18 months.
[01:03] Announcer: Infrastructure in cities like Havana is reaching a breaking point.
[01:07] Announcer: Trash is piling up because of a lack of working dump trucks,
[01:11] Announcer: and many government-run hospitals have been forced to cut services.
[01:15] Announcer: The government has announced emergency measures, which include reducing school hours and postponing all major sporting and cultural events to conserve what little energy remains.
[01:27] Talia Bennett: Talia, the economic pressure is visible at the pump as well.
[01:31] Talia Bennett: Fuel prices on the unofficial market have reached $9 a liter.
[01:35] Talia Bennett: For most Cubans, filling a car's gas tank now costs more than their average annual salary.
[01:41] Talia Bennett: This has effectively paralyzed private transport and even affected international tourism.
[01:46] Announcer: We are also seeing signs of civil unrest.
[01:49] Announcer: On Saturday, residents in the city of Morón took to the streets to protest the lack of
[01:55] Announcer: electricity and food.
[01:57] Announcer: There are reports from state-run media of an attack on a Communist Party office, which is a rare occurrence of public dissent in the country.
[02:06] Announcer: The Deputy Foreign Minister, Carlos Fernandez de Cozio, has criticized the United States government, suggesting the blackout is a calculated result of the blockade.
[02:17] Talia Bennett: The isolation is extending to digital and physical connectivity.
[02:22] Talia Bennett: Network monitoring data shows that internet traffic in Cuba has dropped to just one-third of its normal volume.
[02:28] Talia Bennett: In the aviation sector, Air Canada suspended all flights to the island last month,
[02:34] Talia Bennett: citing a shortage of aviation fuel.
[02:36] Talia Bennett: That suspension is expected to last until at least November.
[02:39] Talia Bennett: We will continue to track the recovery of the grid.
[02:43] Talia Bennett: For Neural Newscast, I'm Thatcher Collins.
[02:46] Announcer: And I'm Talia Bennett.
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