Cuba blames protests over power outages after ‘Ian’ for slowing repair work

The president of the Provincial Defense Council of Havana (Cuba), Luis Antonio Torres Iríbar, has pointed out that the protests of the citizens of the region who have been without electricity for several days due to the destruction caused by hurricane ‘Ian’ are slowing down the fulfillment of the Government’s objective of restoring the service as soon as possible.

“I believe that protesting is a right. But it is a right when those responsible, the State and the Government, fail to do what they are responsible for,” he said in statements to the Cubavisión television network reported by ‘Cubadebate’.

Torres Iríbar has argued that part of the officials deployed in the area had to stop to give explanations so that the demonstrators “would understand the situation” instead of contributing to the collection of debris together with the construction workers.

The president of the Defense Council has confirmed that the greatest damage has been recorded in the trees of the city, which when falling have affected the electricity “paralyzing all circuits and communications. Torres Iríbar pointed out that 50 percent of Havana’s electrical system has already been reestablished.