ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
Life in Cuba these days is increasingly defined by darkness.
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Right now, the streets are completely empty. Yesterday, even the iconic capitol building was totally dark. You have to walk around with a flashlight.
SCHMITZ: That's Eyder Peralta, who has rare access to Cuba this week. In January, the U.S. moved to choke off Cuba's fuel. There are frequent blackouts that last longer than a day and critical shortages of food, fuel and medicine.
PERALTA: This is by far the worst I've ever seen Havana.
SCHMITZ: Add to that threats from the Trump administration that the days of Cuba's communist government are numbered. For this week's Reporter's Notebook, we wanted to talk about what it was like to report there now. I began by asking Eyder what had changed since the last time he had reported there.
PERALTA: The last time I was here was nearly a year ago, and it's just dark. I have to say that was really shocking. I went for a long walk around Old Havana yesterday, and you just walk blocks and blocks, and it feels like the day after a hurricane where it's pitch dark in the streets. People are walking around with flashlights. I mean, it's sort of stunning how much life light gives to a city, and this - it feels like a zombie movie.
SCHMITZ: So you were talking about how many regular Cubans there in Havana don't have power. They're walking around with flashlights. How do you do your job? I mean, you're a radio reporter. You need batteries. You need light. You're...
PERALTA: Well, we have...
SCHMITZ: ...Talking to me right now.
PERALTA: I brought a lot of batteries.
SCHMITZ: Yeah.
PERALTA: Yes. I have a lot of batteries.
SCHMITZ: OK.
PERALTA: But then also, you know, the one thing that complicates things even more is American sanctions. I'm on a U.S. passport, which means Americans cannot stay at the big hotels here. Most of them are closed anyway, but the big hotels here have generators, and they have lights, and you can have a nice coffee, and you can have hot water, and you can have air conditioning. Right now, I'm talking to you with a fan because I - there's no power, but I have - the Airbnb I'm staying at has a battery pack that...
SCHMITZ: Ok.
PERALTA: ...Powers the fans. So, you know, you get - I get to charge my laptop, and I get to charge, you know, like, all the other stuff I need.
SCHMITZ: Is - what's your sense from talking to folks there? Are they angry with the United States? Are they angry with their own government? Where is the frustration directed at?
PERALTA: It's both. They feel that the oil blockade is inhumane. But they don't feel that the United States is solely the cause of this crisis. They feel that their government has let them down. They feel that their government is not negotiating, right?
I actually asked a guy, like, in the 60s. I was talking to him in a park, and I asked him, you know, if you had a government official right here in front of you, what would you say? And he said, you have to join the world. You can't continue thinking that you can do things your way and survive in this world. And by that, he means, he said, do what everyone else in the world does - free political prisoners, have elections.
And then, you know, the world - the U.S. has to stop this blockade, and, you know, the IMF can give you money, right? And so they - a lot of what I've heard on the streets is, please Cuban government. Just do what the U.S. tells you so this ends.
SCHMITZ: I mean, I would imagine the Trump administration would hear that and say, that's exactly why we're doing this.
PERALTA: It is. But you know, I asked the deputy foreign minister. I played that tape for her. And she said, the problem is - and, you know, one of the things the guy on the street said was, like, look, they don't have to change their political system. They can do all of these things and not change their political system. And she said, the problem is, they want us to change the political system, right? And...
SCHMITZ: Right.
PERALTA: We're not going to do that. That's a red line for us, and it's never going to happen.
SCHMITZ: Wow. That is fascinating. I mean, you know, when you're talking to folks like this, I'm just curious, are they - do they give you their names? I mean, given the government of Cuba, I would imagine there's a lot of fear about, A, talking to an American journalist but also just giving any kind of information about who they are for fear of retribution.
PERALTA: You constantly have people saying things that everybody else knows they shouldn't be saying, and they're giving them looks, right? And they're like, I'm going to go to jail for this, right? But...
SCHMITZ: Right.
PERALTA: But they always talk. And that has kind of always been the case in Cuba, right? They've always - I feel like Cubans always know where the red line is, and they don't cross it.
SCHMITZ: Interesting.
PERALTA: Or they talk in metaphors, or they give you the roundabout, right? We - you know, we tend not to use names because people fear retribution here.
SCHMITZ: Right.
PERALTA: But people talk, and I think the frustration at this moment means that people are much more willing to cross a red line that they didn't used to be.
SCHMITZ: You know, you're going to be doing a bunch of stories that we will hear in the coming weeks. I'm curious, is there a moment from this trip that sort of stays with you, even though it may not make it into one of these stories?
PERALTA: We were reporting in this big - one of the old buildings in Old Havana, and they're like - and they're beautiful, right? It's got this, like, huge staircase in the middle. And, you know, it used to be beautiful. But, like, you know, you have just this, like, spiderweb of, like - of cables and hoses that take water up and down this building. But, like, I kept talking to people, and, like, I was like, so, you know, what are you up to? And they were like, (non-English language spoken), they say. And...
SCHMITZ: We'll see what falls.
PERALTA: We'll see what falls. But they would...
SCHMITZ: Right.
PERALTA: And they would, like, step outside - right? - and, like, look up and be like, (non-English language spoken). We'll see what's going to happen. Like, and I was like, what? Are you expecting this to come - something to fall from the sky, right?
SCHMITZ: (Laughter).
PERALTA: And they're kind of like, yeah. And so I left. I went to go do some more reporting, right? And then I came back. And, like, one of the ladies I was talking to was just thrilled because something had fallen from the sky. And I'll tell you what it is (laughter).
SCHMITZ: Wait, something fell from the sky?
PERALTA: Well, not quite.
SCHMITZ: OK.
PERALTA: But something...
SCHMITZ: Yeah.
PERALTA: Something fell to her - right? - which was...
SCHMITZ: Right, right.
PERALTA: Some lady told her, hey, I have these seven blouses that you can go try and sell on the street, right? Just some random lady. And she sold, you know, five of those blouses, and she was able to buy a carton of eggs with it, right?
SCHMITZ: Wow.
PERALTA: Cubans - they keep telling you I live day to day, right? And that's what fell that day, right?
SCHMITZ: That is NPR's Eyder Peralta, seeing what falls in Havana, Cuba. Eyder, thank you so much.
PERALTA: Thank you, Rob.
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