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The time change in Cuba has once again disrupted the routine of Cubans, this time in the stores of Santa Clara, where the municipal broadcaster Estereocentro reported that state-run establishments will adjust their opening hours following the implementation of daylight saving time on November 2.
The measure, which the government presents as part of a plan to "save energy" and "better utilize natural light," has generated more frustration than understanding among the city's residents. Many believe that the adjustment is merely a new band-aid to camouflage the energy crisis that has been affecting the country for years.
The authorities insist that delaying the clocks by one hour will alleviate the power outages, but the public no longer believes that message. “We won’t have time to buy everything that’s coming to the store,” a resident of Santa Clara sarcastically commented on the broadcaster's post, while another asked in the same tone: “And why aren’t the bread points included? Isn’t it the same as a bodega? Or are we not the same?”
Other users took the opportunity to vent their frustration about what they see as a system without real solutions. "In the end, they should close them down and leave one per area. They would surely save thousands of CUP in salaries and solve the housing problem," wrote one user. Another was more blunt: "It doesn't matter if there’s nothing in the stores."
Amid the widespread discomfort caused by power outages and shortages, the measure seems, for many, a reminder that Cubans continue to adapt their lives once again to the reality of scarcity. Or as one internet user sarcastically summed it up: “Two hours is enough if they are just decorative objects in the neighborhoods.”
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