{"id":60465,"date":"2024-11-08T14:07:23","date_gmt":"2024-11-08T19:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/?p=60465"},"modified":"2024-11-08T14:07:23","modified_gmt":"2024-11-08T19:07:23","slug":"hare-analyzes-cubas-energy-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/2024\/11\/08\/hare-analyzes-cubas-energy-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Hare Analyzes Cuba’s Energy Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Amb. Paul Hare<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Paul Hare<\/span><\/a>, Master Lecturer in International Relations at the\u00a0<\/span>Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and Interim Director of the\u00a0<\/span>Center for Latin American Studies<\/a>(CLAS)<\/a>,<\/span> analyzed Cuba’s recurring power grid failures in commentary published in the November 8, 2024 edition of the Inter-American Dialogue’s Latin America Energy Advisor.<\/a><\/p>\n

Hare noted that Cuba’s energy system “has never been brought into the 21st century, despite years of advice and subsidized oil concessions from allies such as Russia and Venezuela.” While the government routinely cites U.S. sanctions as preventing access to spare parts and maintenance, Hare pointed out that “all government and military elites will have private generators they can turn on in blackouts.”<\/p>\n

He highlighted past unsuccessful attempts to diversify Cuba’s energy sources, including biomass projects with British and Chinese investors that opened in 2020 but “have not worked for more than two years.” He also noted that a nuclear plant promoted during the Soviet era “has long been mothballed and is a storage place for hazardous materials.”<\/p>\n

According to Hare, while China is “best suited to provide the necessary know-how, insistence on efficiency and qualified management,” it has been reluctant to offer major financing to Cuba, unlike its approach with other Belt and Road initiative countries. This hesitancy stems from concerns about Cuba’s ability to make debt payments.<\/p>\n

Hare attributed these persistent issues to systemic problems, noting that “the one-party state where much economic activity is dominated by military-run conglomerates means there is no meritocracy established or accountability for management or engineering lapses.” He emphasized that “loyalty to the Communist Party and the state is the main criteria for appointments.”<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Hare concluded that public protests against these chronic power failures are likely to be “futile as energy blackouts have been a part of Cuban life for decades,” suggesting that the fundamental issues plaguing Cuba’s energy infrastructure will persist without significant systemic change.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Paul Hare<\/a><\/span>\u00a0was a British diplomat for 30 years and the British ambassador to Cuba from 2001-04. He now teaches classes at Boston University on Diplomatic Practice, Arms Control, Intercultural Communication, and on Cuba in Transition. His novel, \u201cMoncada \u2014 A Cuban Story<\/i>,\u201d set in modern Cuba, was published in 2010. His book, \u201cMaking Diplomacy Work; Intelligent Innovation for the Modern World<\/i>\u201d was published in 2015. Learn more about him\u00a0here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Hare analyzed Cuba’s recurring power grid failures, noting the system ‘has never been brought into the 21st century, despite years of advice and subsidized oil concessions from allies.’ While the government cites U.S. sanctions for maintenance issues, Hare pointed out that government and military elites have private generators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22859,"featured_media":25331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8410],"tags":[12446,1837,12443,12444,9711,11502,11452,9103,9179,1810,8539,12442,12445,4427],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60465"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22859"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60468,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60465\/revisions\/60468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}