Cuban residents suffer daily power outages

Summary

Marketplace Morning Report – "Cuban residents suffer daily power outages"

Date: February 13, 2026 | Host: Nick Qureshi (Marketplace/BBC World Service)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Marketplace Morning Report focuses on the acute energy and humanitarian crisis in Cuba, where residents now suffer daily, prolonged electricity blackouts. The segment explores how this impacts daily life, including access to food, healthcare, and the broader social fabric. The show also quickly recaps major global economic stories, including cocoa price drops in Ghana, a major political shift in Bangladesh, and the retirement of the designer behind Hello Kitty.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Humanitarian Aid Arrives in Cuba Amid Crisis

• Tanker Shipments from Mexico:

  • Two humanitarian aid vessels have docked in Havana, sent by Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum’s government.
  • They brought 800 tons of powdered milk, rice, beans, and other essential goods.
  • Critically, no crude oil was included, which is what Cuba needs most.

• Context:

  • Cuba struggles under a "virtual oil blockade" imposed by the Trump administration, drastically reducing fuel supplies.

• Quote – Will Grant (01:11):

  “They included more than 800 tons of basic goods, powdered milk, rice and beans, items desperately needed in this worsening humanitarian crisis in Cuba. However, what wasn’t on those tankers is what Cuba most needs in this moment, which is crude oil.”

2. Voices from Havana: Life Amid Blackouts

• Interview with an anonymous Havana resident:

  • Daily life for Cubans now revolves around surviving extended blackouts, lasting between 10–16 hours or more.
  • People struggle with basic tasks, especially storing and preparing food due to unreliable refrigeration.
  • Quote – Resident (01:49):

    “My day to day life...reduced as the life of everybody else to the survival between cycles of blackouts. That is now the situation.”

  • Managing food is almost impossible:
    • Residents can’t store food for long because refrigerators don’t work without power, causing food to spoil.
    • “It reduces life to try to obtain the things you need for the day.” – (02:27)

• Impact on institutions:

  • Hospitals operate only for immediate lifesaving procedures.
    • Quote – Resident (03:05):

      “Only those [procedures] for immediate saving of a life” [are performed in hospitals.]

  • Schools and other services are severely disrupted.

3. Economic Collapse and Social Breakdown

• Tourism Halted:

  • Virtually no tourists come to Cuba due to health risks and lack of basic infrastructure.
  • Only hotels receive steady electricity, but “you don’t go to a country to visit a hotel.”
  • Rising violence and safety risks:
    • The city plunges into darkness every night, making streets unsafe.

• Quote – Resident (03:24):

  “Tourism now it is not feasible. Nobody wants to be a tourist in a country in the middle of this situation. Lack of sanitation, serious problem of public health, nothing... Social situation is deteriorating rapidly... at night you cannot walk in the street because they are all black.”

• No Hope for the Future:

  • Widespread sense of despair and belief that only drastic change could improve conditions.
  • Quote – Resident (04:12):

    “Everything is going down slowly in the country and the daily life is complicated. I see no future. The only future is a change. There is no other exit situation. And continue like this. Can I continue like this?”

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Other Global Economic Updates

Ghana Cocoa Prices Plummet

• Government cuts cocoa prices by 28%, citing falling global prices.
• Financial crisis: Many farmers go unpaid.

Bangladesh Political Shift

• Center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) wins in a landslide following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina.
• Economy faces:
  • High youth unemployment
  • Inflation (8% in October according to World Bank)
  • Business confidence is low.
  • Relations with India remain tense since Hasina’s exile; her extradition is unresolved.
• Quote – Azadeh Mashiri (05:16):

  "The BNP will be inheriting an economy suffering from high unemployment. The group that is the most affected by unemployment are young graduates..."

Hello Kitty Designer Retires

• Yuko Yamaguchi, creative lead since 1980, steps down; was pivotal in Hello Kitty’s evolution into a global brand.
• New designer “Aya” will take over; a new Hello Kitty theme park is set to open in China.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Cuban daily life:

  “My day to day life...reduced...to the survival between cycles of blackouts.” – Anonymous Havana resident (01:49)

• On food security:

  “You cannot accumulate too much food...because of the lack of refrigeration capacity in the houses. And even if you have a good refrigerated storage, it depends on the availability of electricity. So food starts to rot.” – (02:27)

• On future prospects:

  “I see no future. The only future is a change. There is no other exit situation.” – (04:12)

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Notable Timestamps

• 00:46 – Main story on Cuba begins
• 01:11 – Will Grant reports on aid shipments to Cuba
• 01:49–04:30 – Interview: Day-to-day impact of blackouts in Havana
• 04:30 – Other world business news: Ghana cocoa and Bangladesh politics
• 05:11 – Analysis of Bangladesh’s economic woes
• 07:00 – Hello Kitty designer’s retirement

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Tone & Language

The episode maintains a measured but urgent tone, especially in the Cuban segment, reflecting both the gravity of the crisis and empathy for residents. Direct quotes from those affected preserve the authenticity and immediacy of the situation.

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This summary captures the episode’s core stories, offering context, lived experiences, and expert perspectives, especially on the Cuban energy crisis, for listeners to understand today’s interconnected economic challenges.

Transcript

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[C]

Cuban residents suffer daily power outages Live from the uk, this is the Marketplace morning report from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Nick Qureshi. As the energy crisis in Cuba continues, the port of Havana has received two ships carrying humanitarian aid sent by Cuba's ally Mexic. Cuba's struggling after the Trump administration imposed a virtual oil blockade on the island. The BBC's Will Grant reports two tankers.

[D]

Worth of humanitarian aid has now made it to Cuba. Sent from the government of Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum. They included more than 800 tons of basic goods, powdered milk, rice and beans, items desperately needed in this worsening humanitarian crisis in Cuba. However, what wasn't on those tankers is what Cuba most needs in this moment, which is crude oil.

[C]

Will grant there? Well, daily life in Cuba is tough. The BBC's Alicia Trujillo has been speaking to a resident of Havana who's asked that we do not disclose his name.

[E]

My day to day life is have been reduced as the life of everybody, everybody else to the survival between cycles of blackouts. That is now the situation. So it is very difficult to do anything else or then perform simple tasks in the house. Trying to do something when the electricity.

[F]

Is already connected and how long does it last? How long do the blackouts last?

[E]

It depends. 10, 12, 14 hours, 16 hours in a row.

[F]

How are people just managing on a day to day basis?

[E]

Surviving people try to survive depending on the amount of money people have. They try to access to the services or the goods they need to the day to day life. You cannot accumulate too much food for example, because of the lack of refrigeration capacity in the houses. And even if you have a good refrigerated storage, it depends on the availability of electricity. So food starts to rot. It reduces life to Try to obtain the things you need for the day.

[F]

Are schools open? How are hospitals functioning? Are those things functioning?

[E]

I don't know. They publish some indications coming from the Ministry of Public Health. Nostril maneuvers will be performed. Only those for immediate saving of a life.

[F]

And I mean, I see tourism isn't coming. So there is no money coming into the country.

[E]

Tourism now it is not feasible. Nobody wants to be a tourist in a country in the middle of this situation. Lack of sanitation, serious problem of public health, nothing. You can see that in Havana the buildings with electricity, those are the hotels. But you don't go to a country to visit a hotel. You go to a country to visit the country. Social situation is deteriorating rapidly. Also you have now situation of different nature, of violence, of in the night you cannot walk in the street because they are all black.

[F]

What kind of future people thinking there is? Because this seems like a long term situation. No oil. And the Americans seem to be putting a lot of pressure on the Cuban government.

[E]

Everything is going down slowly in the country and the daily life is complicated. I see no future. The only future is a change. There is no other exit situation. And continue like this. Can I continue like this?

[C]

A resident of Havana there speaking to the BBC. Right, let's do some numbers. And to Ghana, where the government has cut the price of cocoa by 28%, blaming a fall in global prices and a financial crisis which has many farmers unpaid. Now the center right Bangladesh Nationalist Party has secured a landslide election victory. It comes 18 months after the previous government led by Sheikh Hossein was overthrown following nationwide street protests. So what does this election result mean for the economy? BBC's Azadeh Mashiri is in the very noisy capital city, Dhaka. Hi, Azadeh.

[G]

Hi, Nick.

[C]

So what economic challenges will the BNP be facing?

[G]

The BNP will be inheriting an economy suffering from high unemployment. The group that is the most affected by unemployment are young graduates. The same young graduates who got us to this point, who led that uprising so that the increasingly authoritarian rule of Chick Hasina would come to an end. And those very protests, if you remember, started because of quotas in civil service jobs. So again, many young people feeling that they haven't been living under a meritocracy bureaucracy. On top of all of that, there has been inflation. The last update from the World bank in October had a little over 8%. Many people who do have jobs say that their salaries are keeping up with the rising price of food. Food being the main driver of that inflation here. And on top of that with millions of people out of work, they're going through very difficult times. So what many people have been hoping for is that once there's more political stability in the country, perhaps businesses here in Bangladesh will feel more confident in creating more jobs.

[C]

Today, relations with Bangladesh's big neighbor, India, have been rather frosty since Sheikh Hasina fled there in 2024. Is that likely to improve at all, do you feel, with a new government?

[G]

Sheikh Hasina is still in exile in India. There have been requests for her to be returned. She was sentenced to death in absentia in Bangladesh, and yet India so far has refused to respond to those requests. And so it's a real tightrope for Terry Graham as he becomes the next prime minister. But given those strong links between the two countries, for a leader who does want to help its economy recover, that relationship will be crucial today.

[C]

Macheri, thanks for joining us on Marketplace.

[G]

Thanks so much, Nick.

[C]

Now, the designer behind Japan's hello Kitty character for more than four decades is stepping down. It started life as an illustration on a vinyl coin purse curse but is now known worldwide. Here's the BBC's Jonathan Frewin.

[H]

Yuko Yamaguchi took charge of hello Kitty in 1980. She oversaw the character's look, officially not a cat, but a little girl from London as it rose to become a global brand. Sanrio, the company behind the cute design, said Yamaguchi had grown her into a character loved by everyone and that a new designer with the pseudonym Aya would start by the end of the year. Hello Kitty has appeared on tens of thousands of products, from handbags to rice cookers. And a theme park is due to open on a tropical Chinese island next year.

[C]

That was Jonathan Frewin in the uk. I'm Nick Qureshi with the Marketplace morning report from the BBC World Service. Thanks for listening.

[I]

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