Miguel Díaz-Canel, the monarch of blackouts, was back at it with one of his inspection tours, motivation, and... welding. This time, his stop was in Marianao, where he made a symbolic visit to the Pipe Workshop of the Electric Plants Maintenance Company (EMCE).
The architect of the “revolutionary energy miracle” of 20 hours of blackouts and no social unrest since he struck, fined, and imprisoned the protesters who took to the streets in 2022 to protest against the daily and prolonged power outages, stood in the dilapidated workshop of EMCE to admire the skill of its workers in cutting, polishing, and welding metal pipes.
In what could be classified as a scene representative of tropical surrealism, the ruler inspected, with a deep gaze and empathetic handshakes, the production of parts for dying thermoelectric boilers.
They talked about the "output economizer," the "suspended ceiling superheater," "flushing," and non-postponable maintenance cycles, all terms that evoke more of a Soviet science fiction script than a real solution for the darkness that overwhelms millions of Cubans.
The goal: to restore thermal machines and thus, according to the promise of the Communist Party, to reduce the duration of disruptions. Because, apparently, the enemy of the people is not the failed economic model, nor the lack of systematic investment, but a set of indifferent pipes that accumulate rust and dirt, obstructing the fluids that flow in greater glory of the "revolution."
During the tour, the learned ruler—flanked by his now-classic companions in guayaberas, with a gun and notebook in hand—expressed interest in the "available technology" and the "workforce," which in official language translates to asking whether there are still individuals with the knowledge to keep a thermoelectric plant operating without miracles.
In Santa Cruz del Norte, the technicians explained to the National Television News (NTV) that they are producing nothing less than four tubular elements at once, in addition to a reheater and a suspended superheater. A labor feat that almost deserves a small reward for each worker... if it weren't for the fact that half the country still lacks electricity and the idea of "eliminating excessive subsidies and undue gratuities" has already taken root in the Palace.
Of course, the final reflection from the president could not be missed: that these lines and productions “mean a lot” in reducing the duration of impacts. Judging by Felton's reports, where only a quarter of the tubes had been cleaned by February -and which has collapsed more times than a terminally ill patient with multi-organ failure-, the statement sounds, at the very least, optimistic.
Cuba remains in the dark, but the pipes... have already been checked.
The national obsession with tubes
The Cuban energy crisis has found its technical scapegoat: the pipes. Not the ones from the State's sewers—pipes of propaganda, ideology, and corruption—but those from the boilers of the thermoelectric plants, presented as the key component that will determine the energy future of an entire nation.
And no one has defended this thesis with more fervor than Vicente de la O Levy, Minister of Energy and Mines, who has become the official preacher of the tubular gospel.
In June 2024, following one of the many breakdowns at the Felton thermoelectric plant, the minister stepped forward with a notable statement: “the blackouts are due to the rupture of tubes in the boiler.”
Since then, there has been no official discourse on the subject that does not include terms like "economizer," "reheater," or "hanging superheater." In other words, Cuba is not experiencing a structural crisis of the electrical system, but rather a kind of internal metallic rebellion.
In February 2025, another "strategic priority" was revealed: the cleaning of the Felton tubes. According to the regime, this involved "unpostponable" maintenance cycles, which for some reason were delayed for years... until they could no longer be postponed and became justifiable. With its tubes now clean, Felton remains the same collapsed and inefficient junk.
In parallel, De la O Levy has asked the public for patience, asserting that the blackouts “are manageable”, because of course, there is no better comfort than knowing that the problem is technical, specific, and takes the form of a cylinder. The narrative is completed by the collapse of the electrical system in September 2024, where once again, the pipes were called to the stand.
Thus we arrive in 2025, where the leader appointed by Raúl Castro and plagued by Ramiro Valdés dedicates part of his day to directly overseeing the manufacturing and welding of metal parts, as if his presence could straighten, by decree, the steel curves... or those of energy generation.
The problem, however, is not just about pipes, but rather a system that has been clogging the channels of freedom and prosperity for decades. In the meantime, the regime will continue to cling to its new narrative of salvation: creative resistance, unity, and tubular connections.
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