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Power outage threat: Colombian island community nearly boycotts vote
🇨🇴 Colombia /Disasters & Emergencies

Power outage threat: Colombian island community nearly boycotts vote

From El Tiempo · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Residents of Isla Grande in Colombia's Rosario Islands threatened to boycott elections due to a week-long power outage.
  • The blackout has crippled essential services, including the local health center and schools, exacerbating public health and welfare issues.
  • Authorities promised an extraordinary meeting to address the energy crisis, which highlights the neglect faced by remote Colombian Caribbean areas.

Residents of Isla Grande, the most populated island in Colombia's Rosario Islands archipelago, nearly boycotted Sunday's elections, threatening absolute abstention to protest a severe energy crisis. The community had warned authorities of their intention to withhold votes if the week-long blackout continued. The protest paralyzed the local polling station for several hours as islanders demanded immediate and lasting solutions to the power outage.

In the Rosario Islands, the electoral day is proceeding with complete normality. Authorities remain attentive and accompanying the process to guarantee order, security, and the correct development of the vote.

— Cartagena's Secretary of the InteriorProviding an update on election day, unaware of the imminent protest.

The situation on Isla Grande exposes the harsh reality of neglect faced by the Non-Interconnected Zones (ZNI) of the Colombian Caribbean. The prolonged power cut has completely disrupted the island's already precarious infrastructure. The local health post is inoperable due to a lack of refrigeration for medicines and essential equipment. Extreme heat and a surge in mosquito populations, stemming from a lack of ventilation, are creating severe public health and welfare challenges for infants, young children, and the elderly.

We demand an immediate and definitive solution to a generalized blackout that has lasted seven consecutive days without a single drop of electrical current.

— Isla Grande CommunityStating their demand to end the protest and restore power.

Educational activities have also been fractured, with students missing regular class time due to the absence of lighting and technological tools. The community's frustration is compounded by the judicial and administrative background of the crisis. In 2025, the Institute for the Planning and Promotion of Energy Solutions for Non-Interconnected Zones (IPSE) had inaugurated a modern power generation plant for the area, yet the service has failed. The Secretary of the Interior has pledged an extraordinary meeting with the community this week to seek solutions.

The decision not to vote responds to a public health and social welfare emergency that worsens with each passing hour on the island.

— Isla Grande CommunityExplaining the reasons behind their planned election boycott.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Tiempo in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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