The Communist Party of Cuba continues to desperately promise that all future times will be better. This Thursday, President Miguel Díaz-Canel reiterated this in a preview of his podcast, 'Desde la Presidencia,' shared on social media platform X, where, alongside the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, and the General Director of the Electric Union of Cuba, Alfredo López Valdés, he stated that in July there will be fewer blackouts than in this May of 2025. The point of reference is a month that has offered no relief to Cubans and has, in fact, sparked the first protests in Bayamo, Santiago de Cuba, and Cienfuegos.
"We are working to ensure that by next July there will be fewer power outages; to make things significantly better than they are at the moment. In March, when we had inaugurated only four solar parks, the photovoltaic generation contributed 107 MW/h. Now, the photovoltaic generation is contributing 1,437 MW/h. It has increased by more than 10 times, but by July, we will have over 500 MW installed in photovoltaic parks," Díaz-Canel stated in a summary of his podcast. He did not specify the number of households that will benefit from this installed photovoltaic capacity, nor for how long.
In any case, that doesn't mean that blackouts will come to an end, the Minister of Energy quickly clarified. "We cannot say nor can we assure that we will reach zero blackouts," he said, sending Díaz-Canel's optimistic narrative into a bottomless pit.
Nevertheless, the minister insists that we are not witnessing yet another demonstration of the inability of the Cuban communists to address the country's economic situation. On the contrary. "This is a strategy. It is not a program for waiting; it is a program for Cuba to become truly sustainable in terms of energy. The party (PCC) and the government are aware of the seriousness of the problem and they are continually seeking solutions. We will always be ready to answer any questions that arise," he added in the summary of Díaz-Canel's podcast, ignoring that what is needed at this stage are short-term solutions.
The announcement of this supposed relief from power outages, which according to Díaz-Canel will be noticeable in July, comes after this Tuesday, the regime confirmed that power cuts will continue this summer due to the usual reasons: the heat, high demand, the deterioration of infrastructure, the shortage of imported fuel, and the thermal power plants being out of operation.
Lázaro Guerra Hernández, the General Director of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy, explained it with numbers. He told the official newspaper Trabajadores that the estimated availability for the coming months will be 1,935 MW, while demand, despite the decline in population, could reach 3,500 MW. This translates to a deficit of more than 1,500 MW.
The promise of fewer blackouts in the summer is not new in Cuba. Not long ago, last year (2024) the Electric Union predicted an improvement in thermal electricity generation for the summer and estimated an increase of about 100 MW compared to the same period the previous year (2023). Now, in 2025, they are making the same promise, although they claim they will generate 500 MW more to supply a population they estimate at 9.7 million people, but which independent studies reduce to 8 million. Fewer people and more blackouts.
The facts contradicted the UNE, and in September 2024, the Minister of Energy had no choice but to admit that the promises made were not fulfilled and that the strategy designed to alleviate the situation for the population had failed once again due to the increasing fuel shortage this year.
Cuba is experiencing a critical situation, exacerbated by the scarcity and high prices of food and the collapse of essential public services like healthcare (more than half a million Cubans died between 2020 and 2024); public transportation (Cuban buses recorded 46 million users from January to March 2025) and waste collection (the equivalent of three Olympic-sized swimming pools of waste is left uncollected every day). In this context, the general outrage is understandable after the regime announced that it will take three years to "recover" the national electric system.
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