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While the official newspaper Granma dedicates headlines and resources to denouncing the destruction of the electrical system in the Gaza Strip, Cubans continue to suffer a chronic collapse in their own energy system, without war in the midst, and as victims of decades of neglect, corruption, and poor state management.
In a note published this Sunday, the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba reproduced a dispatch from Prensa Latina that held Israel responsible for damages amounting to approximately $728 million in the Gaza electrical system, following two years of attacks.
The state media reported that more than 80% of the distribution networks were destroyed, along with 90% of the local company's warehouses, according to a Palestinian spokesperson.
However, Granma and the rest of the official press remain silent in the face of a similar —although self-inflicted— catastrophe unfolding on the Island: the collapse of the National Electric System (SEN).
For years, Cubans have endured blackouts of up to 20 hours a day, constant breakdowns in thermal power plants, and an energy deficit that keeps the country shrouded in darkness.
According to data from the Ministry of Energy and Mines itself, more than 60% of Cuba's generating plants have been in operation for over 35 years, with poor maintenance and lacking spare parts.
This is compounded by the inefficiency of the Electric Union (UNE), the lack of investment in renewable energy, and the diversion of resources towards the military and tourism sectors, which are controlled by GAESA, the military’s economic conglomerate.
While the Cuban regime demands international solidarity for the Palestinian cause, it fails to acknowledge the energy crisis that has turned daily life into a struggle for survival: non-functional stoves, rotting food, hospitals without electricity, and students doing their homework by candlelight.
It is ironic that Granma denounces the "destruction of the electrical system" in another country when its own is collapsing without bombs or blockades. What Israel has destroyed in Gaza in two years, Castroism has achieved in Cuba over six decades of incompetence and absolute control.
The Cuban people do not need speeches about the reconstruction of external networks, but rather light in their homes, transparency in governance, and the freedom to demand a government that does not hide its blackouts behind the propaganda noise of other conflicts.
In Cuba, darkness does not come from the sky; it is imposed by the regime.
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