Cuba - Communism Doesn't Work

Here's more proof from "the only one-party communist country in the Americas."

Basic Industry Minister Yadira Garcia had a somewhat discouraging bottom line: Cuba's power plants are obsolescent and require complex maintenance, which adds to the number of blackouts.

She said there are no spare parts readily available for the mostly vintage 1960s and 1970s Soviet- and Czech-technology plants. "You have to special-order them," which also contributes to blackout woes, she said.

Yet "May and June are very difficult months, with a lot of tensions," she said, and power simply will not be able to be kept flowing at all times.

She said blackouts would continue for now, but did not give a date as to when they might stop.

Castro grilled state power company officials on the program, and they revealed that they need to replace 17,000 kilometers (10,563 miles) of power lines and 44,000 power line poles to modernize the country's distribution system.

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