The London-based company NetBlocks, dedicated to global Internet monitoring, has reported this Friday a "significant" drop in Internet traffic in Cuba, attributed to a blackout that, according to the Ministry of Energy, is due to the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras thermal power station.

According to the NetBlocks graph, the drop occurred after 12:00 noon this Friday on the Island. It is clearly visible in the graph shown by the company when compared to the previous two days. On both of those days, at that time, traffic peaks of 100% were recorded.

Directed by the British human rights advocate, Alp Toker, NetBlocks is a private company, "independent and non-partisan," specializing in digital rights, cybersecurity, and internet governance. In 2020, it confirmed the partial interruption of social networks in Cuba during the protests related to the San Isidro Movement (MSI). In fact, the internet disruption they detected coincided with the eviction of the San Isidro hunger strikers.

Collapse of the energy system in Cuba

This decline in internet traffic on the Island coincides with the announcement from the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) about the total disconnection of the National Electroenergetic System (SEN) due to the shutdown of the Guiteras thermoelectric plant.

The total blackout at the plant began at 11:07 this morning due, according to the ministry, to the conditions under which the SEN is operating. Authorities assure that the Electric Union is working on restoring the service, in a post that was deleted a few minutes later.

According to the report published by the UNE, on the morning of this Friday, seven thermoelectric units remained out of service: four due to breakdown and three for maintenance.

To explain the collapse of the electrical system on the Island, Lázaro Guerra Hernández, General Director of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM), appeared urgently on Cuban television and made it clear that for now "there is no defined time" for the total restoration of service. He also added that the causes of the blackout are being investigated.

Hundreds of CiberCuba readers have reacted with outrage to the new announcement from the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Cuba regarding the total blackout of the National Electroenergetic System.

"What a great lack of respect, an entire country without electricity, they should hand over the country and leave because Cuba is just pitiful, how they have destroyed it and not only the Island that is falling apart but, most sadly, its people, the population that is the one suffering," said an internet user.