Desde Dentro de Cuba.

Distribuido por Cuba Free Press, Inc. - http://www.cubafreepress.org

Oct. 8, 1999.

PARTIAL BLACKOUTS: SAVING FUEL FOR SUMMIT? By Tania Quintero, Cuba Free Press.

HAVANA - Cuba is lately subject to blackouts in electric service during a few hours every day. Sometimes the power goes off for four hours in the morning, three in the afternoon and two at night; sometimes it goes off for six hours at a stretch.

The official explanation is that the power reductions are due to breakdowns in the country's generating plants. However, the word on the street is that the blackouts are fuel-saving measures in anticipation of the coming Ninth Iberoamerican Summit here, which is expected to have a high energy cost.

Tania Quintero, Cuba Free Press.