A week ago, lightning struck a large oil storage tank in Matanzas, Cuba, igniting a fire that has injured 125 people, killed two firefighters, and left 14 missing. The fire raged for five days, destroying 40 percent of the island’s main fuel storage facility.
Matanzas is the largest port on the island for receiving fuel imports and crude oil. Fuel oil and diesel are held in 8 storage tanks, which are mainly used to generate electricity on the island. Four of the tanks were lost amidst the fire and explosions that wracked the facility.
Cuban officials have not said how much oil was lost in the fire.
“It will take weeks to determine not only what is the status of the four remaining operable tanks but also the whole infrastructure,” said Jorge Piñon, Director of Latin America and Caribbean Energy Program at the University of Texas at Austin.
He said even though the docks seemed to have come out relatively fine, allowing tankers to still come in, it’ll still take about 4-6 weeks at least to determine the status of the system if the remaining oil tanks can operate.
Beyond the port, Piñon said Cuba’s electric power system has been in need of maintenance for the last 3 to 5 years. He received notice that Thursday night saw a deficit of 1200 megawatts at peak hours.
“Half of the twenty power stations throughout the eight thermoelectric plants are out of service because these are units that are 45 plus years old,” he said.
Without the fuel crisis caused by the fire, Cuba and the Cuban people are in a difficult situation regardless.
Cuba sent out an international call for help, and a few of its political allies in the hemisphere came to help. Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia helped Cuban firefighters put out the fires, although it took five days.
Missing from this list of countries that gave aid was the United States. WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett said America’s lack of presence is a spot of contention.
“The United States insists that it never received a direct request from the Cuban government for material help, and it claims - this is not surprising - that it needs that direct request as part of protocol for these kinds of things,” he said.
On Cuba’s end, they say that the international call for aid also includes the need for direct help.
For the rest of this summer, Padgett believes that the protests we saw in Cuba last year will happen again and will probably be more intense. Frustration from more power issues in the height of the summer heat in hurricane season will increase, giving the government more than they can deal with, he said.
Potential medicine aid for Medicare recipients
The U.S. House is expected to vote today on the Inflation Reduction Act. That is a package of actions that includes climate change spending, instituting a minimum corporate tax rate and allowing the federal government’s Medicare health plan to negotiate prices for some prescription drugs. Supporters say such a big buyer could help reduce the increases in drug prices.
Elisabeth Rosenthal, Editor-in-Chief of Kaiser Health News, said this is important for people on Medicare because it allows Medicare to negotiate prices on a limited number of drugs.
“It’s the first time the government has stated the principle that it has a right to negotiate with drug manufacturers on a reasonable price for drugs in the U.S.,” she said.
She said that Medicare is supposed to select the 10 drugs they spend the most on to negotiate prices, so some people on high price drugs will see their costs reduced.
This bill also limits out-of-pocket spending for Medicare beneficiaries, which is a great benefit to those on Medicare.
Nancy Ancrum, Editorial Page Editor for the Miami Herald, said this bill’s effect on South Florida and politics can only be seen later.
“It doesn’t start until 2026, so we’re not going to be seeing anything immediately, and yes, it depends upon what drugs will be on the list by then,” she said.
Steve Bousquet, Editorial Page Editor for the Sun-Sentinel, believes this will be an important issue on the ballot for some older voters in Broward.
“I think that the Democrats have the upper hand on this issue, they’ve had it for a long time … It’s vital to so many people in Florida,” he said.
Doug Lyons, Senior Editorial Writer for the Palm Beach Post, also believes this bill will be a winning issue for Florida Democrats.
“Democrats also can say this bill will give relief on insulin drugs beginning next year, so they got something to campaign on,” he said.
