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This article covers events in the year 2024 in Cuba.
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Cuba has had a socialist political system since 1961 based on the "one state – one party" principle. Cuba is constitutionally defined as a single party Marxist–Leninist socialist republic with semi-presidential powers. The present Constitution of Cuba, which was passed in a 2019 referendum, also describes the role of the Communist Party of Cuba to be the "leading force of society and of the state" and as having the capability of setting national policy, and First Secretary of the Communist Party is the most powerful position in Cuba. The 2019 Constitution of Cuba identifies the ideals represented by Cuban independence hero José Martí and revolutionary leader Fidel Castro as the primary foundation of Cuba's political system, while also stressing the importance of the influence of the ideas of Marx, Engels, and Lenin.
A rolling blackout, also referred to as rota or rotational load shedding, rota disconnection, feeder rotation, or a rotating outage, is an intentionally engineered electrical power shutdown in which electricity delivery is stopped for non-overlapping periods of time over different parts of the distribution region. Rolling blackouts are a last-resort measure used by an electric utility company to avoid a total blackout of the power system.
Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez is a Cuban politician and engineer. He has served as the 8th First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba since 2021 and as the 17th President of Cuba since 2019. In his capacity as First Secretary he is the most powerful person in the Cuban government.
The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba is the top leader of Cuba. The First Secretary is the highest office within the Communist Party of Cuba as well as ranking first in the Politburo, the highest decision-making body in Cuba, which makes the office holder the most powerful person in the Cuban government. In communist states the First or General Secretary of the Communist Party is typically the de facto leader of the country and a more powerful position than state offices such as President or Prime Minister, when those positions are held by different individuals.
Events in the year 2019 in Cuba.
Nationwide recurring electrical blackouts in Venezuela began in March 2019. Experts and state-run Corpoelec sources attribute the electricity shortages to lack of maintenance and to a lack of technical expertise in the country resulting from a brain drain. Nicolás Maduro's administration attributes them to sabotage. Since March, various nationwide blackouts occurred in the country.
Events in the year 2020 in Cuba.
This article covers events in the year 2021 in Cuba.
The 2020 Sri Lankan blackouts were a series of electrical blackouts that occurred on 17 August 2020, beginning around 12.30 pm SLST (UTC+5:30) and lasting over seven hours. The nationwide blackouts occurred due to a transmission technical failure at the Kerawalapitiya Grid-Sub station. The Ministry of Power appointed a special committee to investigate the root cause behind the blackout.
LUMA Energy is a private power company that is responsible for power distribution and power transmission in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. They are also in charge of maintaining and modernizing the power infrastructure. Previously, these duties belonged exclusively to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, but as of July 20, 2018, permission was granted for PREPA assets and service duties to be sold to private companies, and on June 22, 2020, a 15-year contract with LUMA was signed, making LUMA the new operator. The takeover took place on June 1, 2021.
A series of protests against the Cuban government and the Communist Party of Cuba began on 11 July 2021, triggered by a shortage of food and medicine and the government's response to the resurgent COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba. The protests were the largest anti-government demonstrations since the Maleconazo in 1994. Protesters' motivations included resentment at the Cuban government's authoritarianism and curbs on civil liberties, the government's COVID-19 pandemic lockdown rules, and failure to fulfill their promised economic and political reforms. The poor state of the Cuban economy also called for major protests all over the country. Cuban dissidents have placed the responsibility for these problems on the government's economic policies and abuse of human rights.
The 2021 Lebanon blackout was a power outage in Lebanon that started on 9 October 2021, after two of the country's power plants shut down when they ran out of diesel fuel. The two power stations provided 40% of Lebanon's electricity. Due to this, the power grid was shut down nationwide.
Hurricane Ian was a devastating tropical cyclone which was the third costliest weather disaster on record worldwide, the deadliest hurricane to strike the state of Florida since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, and the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Michael in 2018. Ian caused widespread damage across western Cuba, Florida, and the Carolinas. Ian was the ninth named storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, and was the first Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic since Lorenzo in 2019.
On 17 March 2024, protests began in Cuba, primarily in Santiago de Cuba, the country's second largest city, in protest of food shortages and power outages.
The 2024 Lebanon blackout is an ongoing total nationwide power outage across Lebanon that began on 17 August 2024 due to the state electricity company of Lebanon, Électricité du Liban, running out of fuel reserves for its power plants. The blackout led to a widespread water shortages due to the inability of Lebanese water corporations to pump water in effective amounts, as well as the halting of several fundamental institutions across Lebanon, including, wastewater treatment systems, ports, airports, and prisons.
A series of interruptions to the nationwide electrical service of Cuba occurred during the months of February, March and October 2024. The blackouts began in February 2024 with power outages that affected nearly half of the country. In March, further blackouts caused widespread protests. On 5–6 October, a third of the country experienced outages. From 18 to 22 October 2024, a total nationwide blackout occurred due to the failure of the Antonio Guiteras Power Plant. During the October shutdowns, the Cuban government announced energy-saving measures. The blackouts were the most severe living crisis that the country has experienced since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Hurricane Oscar was a compact tropical cyclone, the smallest Atlantic hurricane on record, which caused moderate damage in eastern Cuba in late October 2024. The fifteenth named storm and tenth hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Oscar originated from a very long-lived tropical wave which moved off of the west coast of Africa on October 10. It did not undergo tropical cyclogenesis until October 19, due to adverse atmospheric conditions. On that same day, the compact storm had a round of rapid intensification and became a Category 1 hurricane. After peaking in wind intensity, Oscar remained steady in intensity as it moved slowly towards Cuba, making landfall late on October 20 with slightly weaker winds but at peak pressure intensity. Land interaction severely disrupted the small storm, and Oscar emerged north of Cuba as a minimal tropical storm with a poorly-defined center. Unfavorable conditions continued to hamper the small storm, and Oscar later dissipated on October 22 after opening into a trough.