After Hurricane Ian left Cuba in the dark, protestors took to the streets. Now the government is set to charge them for electricity after a storm.
After Hurricane Ian ripped through Cuba on November 7th, the Cuban government charged people with an $80 fine for forgetting to turn on a light switch, and a $1,000 fine for not having enough food and water to last four days. The government even used it to charge for electricity, charging $30 a day for using just 100 watts of electricity.
The Cuban government says the $80 fine, along with a second for not having candles or matches to light the candles in their homes, is all-inclusive. In fact, this isn’t an all-inclusive fine. As the U.S. State Department said, “the Cuban government has established a system of fines in certain instances where electricity has been lacking during a natural catastrophe or other disaster”. It has, however, been very vague about exactly how one is supposed to use electricity when it’s not available.
People in Cuba are already suffering through severe weather in some areas, and the government has responded by imposing harsh rules. People who are caught with the water and electricity are forced to pay the government back, which has led to more than 500 people having their electricity cut off.
It remains to be seen how Cuba will respond now that the hurricane is finally gone. The Cuban government hasn’t offered any explanation, and that’s likely because no major news outlet has tried.
The only major news outlet who has tried to cover it has been CNN, which covered the story on Monday, but left out the key details. The State Department itself has also left the details of the Cuban fines to just state “the Cuban government has established a system of fines in certain instances where electricity has been lacking during a natural catastrophe or other disaster”.
So here’s the situation: the Cuban government uses electric bills to calculate the ‘toll’