(Via Drudge) Note that this directive involved 90% of the economic infrastructure of Cuba.

HAVANA, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Cuba has ordered all state enterprises to adopt “extreme measures” to cut energy usage through the end of the year in hopes of avoiding the dreaded blackouts that plagued the country following the 1991 collapse of its then-top ally, the Soviet Union.

In documents seen by Reuters, government officials have been warned that the island is facing a “critical” energy shortage that requires the closing of non-essential factories and workshops and the shutting down of air conditioners and refrigerators not needed to preserve food and medicine.

It apparently more or less worked – no word on how many people it killed while doing so – but I have an alternate suggestion: how about the next time this happens the Cubans replace the current ruling regime with a functional democracy, embrace a free market capitalist system, and utterly reject the modified Marxist theology that they’re currently suffering from? That way they can stop worrying about keeping the air conditioning running, and start worrying about the populace’s obesity rates.

Just wanted to throw that out there.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.