In a country where cooking has become an act of daily resistance, the Cuban government is promoting the use of charcoal briquettes as an emergency solution for food preparation.
The initiative, gaining strength in the mountainous municipality of Fomento in Sancti Spíritus, emerges as a local response to the profound energy crisis affecting the country.
The briquettes, made from charcoal waste, water, and starch from cassava grown for self-consumption, are presented as an “ecological and renewable” alternative, according to the official statement conveyed by the Television News.
However, behind the narrative of sustainability lies a harsher reality: the urgent need to replace what was once cooked with liquefied gas or electricity with coal.
One of the visible faces of this forced transformation is Emilio Sosa Pérez, a popular mailman from Fomento who stopped delivering letters to lead the small artisan workshop where 20,000 briquettes are produced monthly today.
“I used to ride my bike delivering letters, now I am here, with my hands full of coal,” recounts Emilio, who does not hide his pride in the collective effort, but also acknowledges the hardships: production interrupted by blackouts, lack of an oven to dry the blocks, and shifts that start when the power returns, even if it’s at dawn.
“We don’t have a schedule. When the power comes on, we all rush here”, he says, in a phrase that encapsulates the level of sacrifice and precariousness with which this type of state-run venture operates.
Briquettes are arriving at homes, schools, health centers, and tobacco factories. The government emphasizes their low smoke level and durability, but the reality in Cuban kitchens also speaks of setbacks: from gas to charcoal, in the 21st century.
For many Cubans, this "solution" brings to mind difficult times when improvising with firewood and a stove was the only option. The current reliance on briquettes not only reveals an energy crisis with no clear solutions in sight but also reflects the forced adaptation of a population that continues to navigate shortages with ingenuity and hard work.
Precisely, this Tuesday, June 24, the Electric Union (UNE) reported a generation deficit of up to 1,790 MW, with power outages exceeding 18 hours in many areas of the country.
The lack of electricity and liquefied gas turns briquettes into the last hope for cooking without having to spend over 1,500 pesos on a bag of charcoal.
Even viral videos show how starting charcoal has become a dangerous routine: mixtures of oil, gasoline, banana leaves, or paper are used to ignite makeshift stoves in backyards or balconies. “This is not a tutorial, it’s a sad reality,” a young woman said on TikTok while demonstrating her cooking method.
"Every day we are worse off", "They are slowly killing us", "How much longer do we have to endure?" are phrases that are echoed in citizen comments on social media, in the face of energy shortages and a lack of real solutions. In this context, the briquette is merely a temporary fix in a collapsing system, another episode of forced adaptation for a people that has already given everything.
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