A video posted on Instagram by the Cuban content creator Yosvany Estrada Hernández shows a haunting image: Havana completely in the dark, with barely a handful of streetlights lit and deserted streets, without vehicles.
"I'm looking at all of Havana from this height, dimmed, with barely 30 lights on corresponding to public lighting. The rest is in shadows, with no cars in sight," the author narrates in amazement.
"I can't see a single light bulb turned on in my Havana throughout this entire area, in this whole view. It's unbelievable," he adds in the recording, which has garnered over 48,000 views.
What the video captures is the convergence of two simultaneous crises. On one hand, the blackouts in March have reached between 8 and 30 hours daily in various areas of the capital and the country.
On the other hand, there is the fuel shortage. Gas stations in national currency have ceased to operate, and those that sell in dollars require booking an appointment through a mobile app, with waits of weeks and a limit of just 20 liters.
The fuel on the black market reaches up to 5,000 Cuban pesos per liter —almost 10 dollars— compared to the 400 pesos it cost a few months ago.
The accumulated desperation triggered ten consecutive days of protests starting on March 6, with nighttime pot-banging in neighborhoods such as Santos Suárez, Centro Habana, El Cerro, Alamar, Marianao, and Plaza de la Revolución, among others.
The slogans "Turn on the power," "Freedom," and "Down with the dictatorship" echoed in the streets of Havana and other major cities across the country.
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