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The National Staff of Civil Defense announced on December 1, 2025, at 7:00 PM, that the provinces of Holguín, Granma, and Guantánamo have returned to normalcy following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, according to the state website Cubadebate.
According to Informative Note No. 9, the decision was made “considering that the work carried out in the areas affected by Hurricane Melissa has allowed the rehabilitation of vital services in most of them.” The text adds that the provinces declared normal “will continue reconstruction efforts with the structures of the administration, local organizations, and the participation of the population.”
Meanwhile, Santiago de Cuba will remain in the recovery phase “under the direction of the Provincial Defense Council and its municipal and zonal defense councils.” The Civil Defense also acknowledged “the efforts made by the leadership bodies, the media, and the population, for the discipline and solidarity demonstrated in complying with the measures outlined during the preparations, response, and recovery from this event.”
The post from Cubadebate on Facebook regarding the announcement of "normality" generated numerous critical comments from users who questioned the official version and reported that the actual situation is far from normal.
Some pointed out that the term is offensive to those who are still facing basic shortages. “Without gas, water, electricity, medicine, food, that is what is truly normal in this country,” wrote a user, while another summarized bitterly: “Nothing is normal in Cuba, please.”
Others criticized the lack of transparency and demanded explanations regarding the management of resources allocated for recovery. "Where are the millions that were sent to the people of the East?" asked a user, before concluding that "they stole them, damn commies."
There were also many comments rejecting the attempt to "normalize the disaster." "There is nothing normal about all of Cuba... Do not normalize the disaster," wrote one person, while another stated that "for the government, normalcy is living without electricity, without food, without water, without a home because the hurricane knocked it down."
Many agreed that the country's structural problems have become part of daily life. “The issues in this country have become normal. Struggling and being stressed is normal,” commented one user. From Holguín, another person ironized: “We're still the same, blackouts, no water, exorbitant prices... I don't know what normality they're talking about.”
The overall tone of the messages was one of discontent and sarcasm, reflecting frustration over the prolonged crisis. "This must be the blind man's joke, right?" someone commented, while another summed up the collective sentiment: "In Cuba, they have already normalized hunger, power outages, and the lack of drinking water."
The contrast between the government's declaration of normalcy and the citizen complaints regarding the ongoing blackouts, water shortages, and damage to essential infrastructure shows a clear gap between the official narrative and the daily reality faced by the residents of the eastern region of the country following Hurricane Melissa.
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