Cuban regime purchases water pumps in Spain despite blaming the "blockade" for supply shortages.

The Cuban regime acquired new pumping equipment in Spain to alleviate the critical situation of water supply infrastructure, despite blaming the U.S. embargo for the problems in the distribution network.

A report by the Cuban Television News (NTV) celebrated the arrival of a shipment containing 21 new water supply pumps, which will benefit approximately 2.3 million people affected by equipment failures that have been in use for years.

Although the report did not mention the origin of the imported equipment, NTV cameras captured the labels affixed to the wooden crates protecting the cargo, revealing that the bombs came from ports in Spain.

The port of origin for the cargo was Bilbao, and the buyer was Cubahidraulica, an import-export company that is part of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH), located in the Miramar district of Havana, where most of the mixed enterprises, shipping companies, importers, and entities that manage the currency flows of state companies and joint-stock companies created by the regime are concentrated.

The company that sold the equipment to Cubahidraulica was KSB ITUR Spain S.A., based in the Basque Country, which shipped the cargo to the Port of Mariel.

According to the official media, the "initiative is part of a government program to improve the water supply to the population" and involves the purchase of "21 new horizontal pumping units," which will be added to the 1,304 that have already arrived in the country, out of a total of 1,387 units.

The report did not specify the total investment cost. Alexis Acosta Cruz, vice president of the Superior Organization of Business Management (OSDE) for Water and Sanitation, stated that "these pumps are part of a program for replacing pumping and disinfection equipment that the group is undertaking with central funding from the country."

In other words, the Cuban regime, through its business network, is capable of importing the equipment and machinery needed to improve the living conditions of Cubans, despite consistently citing the "blockade" as a justification for its failures and inefficiencies in the face of numerous difficulties and shortcomings in public services.

In January 2020, Cuba's Deputy Prime Minister, Inés María Chapman Waugh, stated that the United States embargo hindered water distribution on the Island and made it impossible to achieve efficient service.

On her X account, the former president of INRH stated that "the issues are being analyzed critically, employing collective intelligence and innovation to confront the blockade by the U.S. government and achieve efficient service."

In November 2023, the Operations Director of the Ciego de Ávila Water and Sanitation Company, Deynis González García, attributed the frequent disruptions in water supply cycles in the province and the insufficient capacity to deliver water to homes to the "blockade."

"The limitations imposed by the intensification of the U.S. blockade against Cuba have hindered the acquisition of four pumping units approved for credit, and the exact date when they will have access to them is unknown," the official stated in a report from the government-controlled newspaper Invasor.

Justifications like these are common in the rhetoric of Cuban regime leaders, who tirelessly use the excuse of the “blockade” to evade their responsibilities for the poor management affecting the lives of Cubans, from the collapse of the electrical system to the crisis in the national industry and the decline of public services such as healthcare, education, transportation, and water supply.

KSB SE & Co. KGaA is a multinational German manufacturer of pumps and valves based in Frankenthal (Pfalz), Germany. The KSB Group has manufacturing plants, sales and marketing organizations, and service operations on every continent except Antarctica.

According to the regime's arguments, international companies such as the KSB Group consistently refuse to do business with Cuba, pressured by the potential repercussions this could have on their operations in the United States, in light of the sanctions outlined in U.S. legislation for companies that engage with the Cuban regime.

Where did the 102 million 300 thousand dollars donated by Kuwait end up?

The precarious state of the hydraulic infrastructure in Cuba raises the question, without hesitation, where did the 102 million 300 thousand dollars provided to the Cuban State by the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development (Kfaed) go?

The question is the same one that many Cubans are asking, intrigued to know what the regime did with the 1.2 billion euros granted by Russia to build thermoelectric plants.

According to a report by the official agency ACN at the end of May, the island's ties with the Kuwaiti fund date back over two decades (since 2003) and during this time, cooperation has provided five loans for the execution of rehabilitation works on aqueduct networks, sewage systems, storm drainage, among others.

Of the amount delivered to the INRH, 84.7 percent has been executed to date, which "benefited" 1,454,000 inhabitants of the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, and Havana.

However, recently published data confirms that thousands of people do not have access to daily water supply services, largely due to power outages, but among the causes are also drought, lack of distribution networks, breakdowns, and corruption, among others.

Although the authorities of the regime refer to the extensive investment program they are implementing to ensure water supply for the population, the current persistent issue is the obsolescence of the infrastructure, with outdated equipment that breaks down regularly and causes interruptions in the supply cycles, which in turn increases public discontent.

Approximately 700,000 people in Cuba do not receive water daily due to power outages, as the hydraulic sector is the second largest consumer of electricity after the population's demand, according to Granma.

Data recorded last year indicates that approximately two million people receive the service every three days or more, and there are 478 population settlements that are either completely or partially lacking water supply networks. All of this directly affects quality of life and health, as it forces reliance on alternative systems to obtain the precious liquid.