Two persons cross a street while cars pass by them, during one of the regular blackouts in Quito, Ecuador. Photo: El Nacional.
The massive power cuts in Ecuador continue to cause havoc and are becoming more serious each time. The country is experiencing several crises simultaneously, but the electricity blackout is the one causing the most discomfort to the citizens, as well as to the government of President Daniel Noboa, a US born right-wing neoliberal corporate businessman who is giving away the country’s resources while the people sit in the dark.
Scheduled power outages in Ecuador began on September 23. Since then, sectors of all the cities in the country have been without electricity from six to ten hours a day, including industrial areas. The power outage has been attributed to a severe drought in Ecuador’s main rivers that has lowered water levels in the dams serving the hydroelectric power plants. More than 70% of Ecuador’s electricity comes from hydroelectric power plants, affected by the worst drought in the last 60 years in the country.
In the capital Quito, the drinking water service is at risk and the city has declared an emergency. On October 3, 2024, Quito Water Company (Epmpas) declared an emergency after recognizing that blackouts of up to 10 hours a day have exceeded its capacity to guarantee the continuity and availability of the drinking water supply.
In this situation, nobody seems to be able to hold on to the office of the Ministry of Energy. It is an institution with only 432 employees and a budget of $69 million. In just 11 months of the Noboa government, the entity has had four ministers: two full ministers and two ministers in charge. They have had to deal not only with the intense drought and the problems of the electricity sector but also with political pressures within the presidency.
“Inexperience in crisis management and lack of transparency in communication on behalf of the government makes citizens hold Daniel Noboa responsible for the blackouts and all the erratic decisions that his government has taken,” the newspaper La Hora reported.
“Thegovernment’s actions to mitigate the energy and water crises seem to have arrived late,” the newspaper continued. “In September, Minister Arturo Felix Wong said that there would be no blackouts. Then, the former minister of Energy and Mines, Antonio Gonçalves, announced nighttime blackouts. Now, however, power outages are up to 14 hours a day and are occurring without any schedule.”
At the beginning of October, Gonçalves resigned from the Ministry of Energy. In his place, Noboa appointed Inés Manzano, minister of Environment, who made her debut by applying neoliberal measures that affect the population in the midst of the crisis. “This week is critical,” she stated, and announced the end of the electricity subsidy to the mining companies and ruled out renting a floating power plant despite the urgent necessity of solutions.
President of Ecuador Declares State of Emergency for ‘Crisis in Electrical Sector’
In this context, President Daniel Noboa public appearances have lessened, while internally his government has turned more chaotic. The events and tours to different parts of the country to deliver credits and inaugurate public works have diminished due to the new cycle of prolonged blackouts.
“This is a government that has become addicted to the digital conversation,” La Hora pointed out. “Its current narrative has generated a broad negative sentiment in social media, where President Noboa has been identified as ‘the one responsible for the crisis.’”
Daniel Naboa has only been in politics since 2021 before being gifted the presidency by his father, banana baron Álvaro Noboa, the richest person in Ecuador with assets over $1 billion, and the rest of the US-supported parasitic oligarchy.
A survey conducted by the agency Content Manager Ecuador revealed that, from 6:00 p.m. September 22 to 6:00 p.m. September 23, 2024 (local time), more than 27,000 posts on social media voiced a condemnation of the blackouts, including allusions to the president as the most responsible for the crisis.
The lack of solutions for businesses and the lack of information for provincial governments are another example of the administrative incapability of the ministers and the government. Meanwhile, the people are plunged into despair without immediate and lasting solutions, and without hope that the government will empathize with the reality of Ecuadorians.
(Resumen Latinoamericano – English) by Alejandra García, with additional editing by Orinoco Tribune
