history question: blackouts and privatization

[vfs111]

having recently been to the DR, I'm curious to know how long the apagones have been around. I've heard that back in the day when electricity was free the service was good. when did it stop being free? how did things get to the point where they are now? was privatization a primary factor in the beginnings of this or was something else the cause of it?

[George Holmes]

You are forgetting about the influence of politics in this. Whether a barrio or a pueblo gets electricity often depends on which political party they support, and the influence that this gives them. Hipolito was apparently good at this, he used to block off electricity to whole parts of cities and the campo for days on end just because they didn't vote for him, and direct the electricity instead to his voters in other areas.