Havana’s streets show few cars, few pedestrians, and limited open venues, creating a midweek calm resembling a holiday. The usual background of internal-combustion engines is replaced by the quieter operation of electric vehicles. Neoclassical buildings with arcades and colonnades appear sharply against the stillness, as if the city has returned to an earlier era. Gasoline scarcity from the U.S. oil blockade prevents cars, generators, refrigerators, water pumps, incubators, and dialysis machines from operating, pushing daily life toward a standstill. Despite this, markets stay open with food available, and people gather at night to play pickup soccer and attend rescheduled school and social events. Power outages are managed by waiting for microphones to work, pausing dancing until music returns, and continuing neighborhood parties with food and live bands. At home, some people leave lights, fans, or noise sources on to wake up if power returns during the night.
"Havana has relatively few cars on its streets, not many people on its sidewalks, and a handful of places open for patrons. Life at midweek feels like a Sunday or a holiday. The background noise of competing internal-combustion engines, common to every modern city, has been replaced by the discrete whir of electric vehicles. The neoclassical buildings, with their arcades and front colonnades, stand out sharply in this uncanny calm, as if the city had time-warped back to the age of their construction."
"The reason for all of this is obvious: The U.S. oil blockade has made gasoline scarce, and without it, cars, generators, refrigerators, water pumps, incubators, and dialysis machines cannot operate. The point is to drive not only the economy but also everyone's lives to a literal standstill."
"But beyond this panoramic first impression, as one looks more closely, it becomes clear that life goes on. By day, the markets remain open and there is food in the stalls. By night, young people emerge from buildings darkened by blackouts and gather to play pickup soccer under whatever streetlight remains in operation. School hours and social events are rescheduled to make the maximum use of daylight hours."
"At a journalists' conference, panel members simply wait out the power outages until the microphones work again; at the nightclubs in Old Havana, people take a break from dancing until the music returns. At a barrio party in the working-class neighborhood of El Fanguito, music blares from a Buena Vista-style band while organizers hand out cups of meat stew. At home, many people leave something on when they go to bed - a light, a fan, or anything that makes noise - so they are woken up if the power returns in the middle of the night,"
Read at Truthout
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