International
Power starting to return to Cuba after departure of Hurricane Ian
AFP
Authorities were slowly restoring electricity in Cuba on Wednesday following an 18-hour power outage in the country caused by Hurricane Ian, which killed two people and left widespread damage.
Western Cuba was battered Tuesday by the fierce tropical storm that left the country’s power network damaged and its 11.2-million population in the dark.
“Work is underway in all of the affected municipalities in the western provinces. A detailed study is being carried out to determine and quantify the damage to begin the process of restoring the system,” said the state electricity company Union Electrica, the only authorized power supplier in the communist nation.
Union Electrica said that shortly after 5:00 pm on Tuesday, two high-voltage lines triggered protection systems after cables were broken by the fierce winds.
“This situation provoked a power imbalance due to the excess generation in the western area and the lack of generation in the central-eastern zone,” leading to “a total outage.”
By midday on Wednesday, the progressive restarting of eight central thermoelectric plants and generators had begun.
“It’s back!” shouted residents in Havana’s old town as they ran to check on the food inside their refrigerators.
Power was restored for some residents in Havana and another 11 provinces, but not in the three worst-affected provinces in western Cuba.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited Pinar del Rio, one of the hardest-hit provinces, on Wednesday to view the damage.
The state electricity company had said late Tuesday that the entire country was “without electrical service.”
Cubans have had to get used to increasingly frequent power cuts since May, but not on a nationwide scale.
Much of the country’s power infrastructure is obsolete and poorly maintained.
“The electricity went out yesterday at 6:00 pm and we don’t know when it will be back on,” farmer Alejandro Perez, 35, told AFP by telephone from the eastern town of Santiago de Cuba earlier on Wednesday.
By contrast, on Isla de la Juventud island, which was the first part of the country struck by Ian, “we have had electricity since 5:00 pm yesterday,” Roxana Gonzalez, 75, told AFP.
Given the island lies 340 kilometers (210 miles) south of Havana, it has its own separate electricity grid.
Ian caused five buildings in the capital to collapse, while another 68 were partially damaged, authorities said.
International
Trump orders immediate U.S. nuclear testing, ending 30-year moratorium
U.S. President Donald Trump’s order to begin “immediate” testing of the country’s nuclear arsenal could, if carried out, end the nuclear testing moratorium that the United States has maintained for over 30 years.
The announcement follows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear maneuvers on October 22 from the Kremlin, which involved land, sea, and air exercises and the launch of a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of up to 12,000 kilometers.
In 1992, the U.S. Senate approved a temporary suspension of nuclear tests in August, followed by the House of Representatives in September, initially for nine months, with the goal of ending all U.S. atomic testing by September 1996.
Although then-President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, and his successor Bill Clinton, a Democrat, threatened to veto the measure, the moratorium has remained in place ever since.
The decision came after the fall of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War, and a political climate in which many U.S. leaders and a significant portion of public opinion believed that the country should lead global denuclearization efforts. Technological advances have also allowed the United States to verify the reliability of its nuclear arsenal without conducting atomic explosions.
From World War II until 1992, the United States conducted over a thousand nuclear tests. Until 1963, these tests were atmospheric, after which only underground tests were performed.
Although the U.S. has not conducted nuclear detonations since September 1992, it has carried out several dozen subcritical experiments. These do not trigger chain nuclear reactions or produce atomic yield but are designed to verify the safety and effectiveness of the nuclear arsenal and remain within the limits established by the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
International
Brazilian president defends coordinated anti-drug operations after deadly Rio raid
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended on Wednesday the integration of the country’s various police forces into an anti-drug strategy that avoids civilian casualties, commenting on Tuesday’s police operation in Rio de Janeiro that left 121 dead—the deadliest in Brazil’s history.
“We need coordinated efforts that strike at the backbone of drug trafficking without putting police, children, and innocent families at risk,” the progressive leader wrote on social media.
Lula, along with several of his ministers, emphasized that organized crime is not defeated through violent confrontations in the favelas, but by measures that decapitalize these groups and reduce their financial power.
“That was exactly what we did in August during the largest operation against organized crime in the country’s history, targeting the financial core of a major organization involved in drug trafficking, fuel adulteration, and money laundering,” he stated, referring to a recent operation against the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), a major national criminal group.
Lula stressed that Brazil cannot allow organized crime to continue destroying families, oppressing citizens, and spreading drugs and violence across cities.
He added that, in a federal country like Brazil, where public security is the responsibility of regional governments, it is necessary to unify the country’s police forces.
The head of state affirmed that integrating regional and national police forces to combat organized crime will be possible with the approval of a public security bill that the government has submitted to Congress.
International
US Deputy Secretary criticizes Mexico’s call to end Cuba trade embargo at UN
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau reacted on Wednesday against Mexico’s request at the United Nations to lift the trade embargo on Cuba.
Landau expressed on X that he felt “sad” as a “friend of Mexico” after Mexico’s ambassador to the UN, Héctor Vasconcelos, reiterated solidarity with Cuba and stressed the “urgent need to end the trade embargo.”
“Let’s base ourselves on reality and not fantasies. There is no trade embargo on Cuba (…) Cuba freely receives goods and visitors from many countries,” Landau wrote.
The reaction from the State Department official came after the Mexican delegation urgently requested the removal of sanctions against Cuba at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where a majority of 165 countries voted in favor of ending the embargo imposed on the island since 1960.
Seven countries voted against the proposal, and twelve abstained. The United States, Israel, Argentina, Hungary, Paraguay, and Ukraine were among those opposing the measure, but the overwhelming support left the U.S. and its allies in the minority.
Trump orders immediate U.S. nuclear testing, ending 30-year moratorium
Brazilian president defends coordinated anti-drug operations after deadly Rio raid
US Deputy Secretary criticizes Mexico’s call to end Cuba trade embargo at UN
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