Related videos:
Cuban Television announced last Thursday the return of the Brazilian series "Cosa más linda" to its programming schedule on Cubavisión, presenting it as one of the most elegant and emotive Brazilian productions in recent years, without mentioning how viewers could manage to watch it.
The media outlet's website celebrated the premiere with enthusiasm, highlighting that the production "returns now to the soap opera timeslot for four weeks, to reconnect with the audience through a narrative that remains relevant." What the announcement elegantly omitted is that the series had already aired in 2020 on the HD channel, and viewers themselves recall having watched it more than once since then.
The reaction on social media was immediate and devastating. Cubans responded to the announcement with a mix of sarcasm, resignation, and indignation that better portrays everyday life under blackouts than any statistic could.
"I watch a soap opera every day called 'Cosa más oscura,'" wrote an internet user in the announcement shared on Cubadebate on Facebook. Another was more direct: "This is the third time they air it. How long will this go on? What a ridiculous situation." A third voice captured the paradox: "That story could not be lived in Cuba, from blackout to blackout."
A lengthy and widely shared comment came from a user who described her family situation with a mix of humor and despair, alluding to a regression to aboriginal conditions that has almost occurred in the country: “Really? And who is that soap opera time slot dedicated to, which for about two years can’t be enjoyed? [...] In my tribe, my family has changed the names of all its members. There are five of us: Yara, Hatuey, Garina, Guamito, and Cayusin. TV? In my bajareque, there’s never any electricity. Oh, yes, the one from the sun.”
The irony has a very concrete background. On the same Thursday, April 2, when Cubavisión premiered the series, the electricity generation deficit in Cuba reached 1,555 MW, with outages of up to 24 hours reported in various provinces. The next day, the forecast for the nighttime peak was a deficit of 1,585 MW, with a availability of only 1,445 MW compared to a demand of 3,000 MW.
The crisis is neither new nor temporary. In March 2026, the National Electric System failed twice in less than a week: on March 16 for 29 hours and 29 minutes, and another general blackout occurred on March 22. In that same month, blackouts reached a peak of 2,040 MW in impact. In provinces, power outages exceed twenty hours a day; in isolated communities, they reach thirty hours or more.
In that context, another internet user's question seems completely reasonable: "And who can watch it??? We are always offline. I don't understand for whom they are broadcasting. They should reconsider and save resources by stopping transmissions during times when it's known that almost the entire country can't watch them."
It is not the first time that Cuban television has attempted to adapt to the energy crisis with quick fixes. In October 2024, Cubavisión announced reruns of episodes that viewers missed due to blackouts. In October 2023, it changed the airing schedule of Brazilian soap operas to broadcast them immediately after the main news broadcast, possibly to save electricity. The repetition of previously aired content — as is currently the case with "Cosa más linda" — is a common practice attributed both to the lack of foreign currency to acquire new productions and to the inability to produce national series with the available resources.
While Cubavisión invites the audience to "fall in love" with the story of a woman who reinvents herself by opening a bossa nova club in 1950s Rio de Janeiro, millions of Cubans are without electricity to turn on the television. The only novel that many follow daily, as pointed out by an internet user, is called "Cosa más oscura," and it has no ending in sight.
Filed under: