Residents of Cuba are developing unconventional solutions to power their island, which faces a severe shortage of resources. These methods have become part of daily life on this Caribbean island, where power outages and fuel scarcity occur regularly.
As the situation worsens due to the US oil embargo, residents are forced to be inventive. Farmers pasteurize milk using wood charcoal, passengers use solar Chinese tricycles, and guides manually grind coffee for the few remaining visitors.
Like many compatriots, Marrero, a third-year computer science student at the Havana Agricultural University, has learned to adapt. Previously, the idea of becoming a content creator never occurred to him, but now he promotes various products in his living room in Carabela, a former sugar town. One of his most popular materials—an instructional video on assembling an antenna to receive a weak mobile network signal—has garnered nearly 800,000 views.
Nevertheless, to achieve his next goal as an influencer—to establish himself on TikTok—he will need to display even more creativity, as the use of this application is restricted by US sanctions.
Tourism in the absence of tourists
Cubans have been accustomed to living with a lack of amenities for decades. Although it has become clear that the situation has significantly deteriorated following the US blockade and the subsequent loss of energy imports from Venezuela and Mexico, people like Marrero demonstrate that the island lacks only creativity and resilience.
Osiris Hernandez, 57, has spent more than half of his life as an ecotourism guide in Viñales, the Mecca of Cuban ecotourism. He works at one of Viñales' main tourist attractions—the Cave India—where he drives a boat that takes visitors through deep underground waters, after which they see a stunning view emerging from darkness into light.
The streets of Viñales are clean, there are signs everywhere advertising guest rooms, and there is even a market where artisans sell their crafts. However, there is one problem: there are almost no tourists left. According to official data, tourism on the island has dropped by 62 percent from January to July compared to the same period last year.
When Hernandez hears about the arrival of one Chinese tourist, a smile appears on his face. He tries very hard to please the few who still come. He has arranged rooms in his house to accommodate these guests, prepares food for them over charcoal, grinds coffee by hand, and uses the same type of rechargeable fan providing light that Marrero advertises on Instagram.
He told CNN that his goal is to provide quality services regardless of the state of the electricity supply. Even when there is no electricity, he says he uses an inverter that converts energy from solar panels for household appliances, allowing him to keep at least one freezer running.
Pasteurization on charcoal
On the outskirts of Viñales is the agroecological farm El Olivo, where Osnel Corrales and his family installed solar panels and batteries to produce dairy products. Despite having an industrial generator, they either lack fuel or do not have enough of it.
On the day of the CNN visit, they produced yogurt: first, they pasteurized the milk by heating it over charcoal, and then cooled it in tanks using electricity generated by solar panels. The farm has a restaurant specializing in Mediterranean cuisine, but there are no customers. Nevertheless, they continue to operate because the cows must be milked anyway, and they produce cheese in addition to yogurt, which is distributed through the farm's store in Viñales and among buyers in Havana.
Despite this, the lack of tourists has led to a sharp decline in demand for their award-winning products, and the fuel shortage makes it difficult for the few tourists who do arrive in Cuba to visit the farm.
A ray of light on the roads
However, the fuel shortage has one positive side: the transport collapse in Havana seems to be a thing of the past. Since there is a shortage of buses, the growing fleet of private solar-powered electric tricycles provides public transport for almost 1.8 million city residents.
Auguste operates a latest-generation model. It is equipped not only with a small gasoline engine but, more importantly, with three rechargeable batteries. He can connect them to the grid when electricity is available or charge them via the solar panel that serves as the vehicle's roof. Auguste, who used to drive taxis for many years, rents out the tricycle for about 9,000 Cuban pesos ($15) per day, regardless of whether there are passengers.
He can carry up to six passengers simultaneously in a system where operators have strategically divided the city into routes, taking into account the distance they can cover depending on the battery charge level and available charge. With or without fuel, Auguste helps his compatriots get around every day, relying on a dynamic well-known to this island. Auguste, Marrero, Hernandez, and countless others are forced to find solutions, which in the Cuban dialect means overcoming any obstacles placed in their path.