Article #88205

Power cuts not only leave people in the dark but leave taps dry, forcing millions of Cubans to spend their days fetching water any way they can

In the cramped kitchen of her flat in Havana’s Chinatown, Mirella Martínez pushes an old metal trolley stacked with empty jerrycans. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she fans herself gently. “It’s so hot!” she says, as the electric fans remain still due to another power outage that has left her flat sweltering in near darkness for hours.

Mirella Martínez’s flat in Havana has been without running water for nearly three years