The Cuban musician Israel Rojas publicly acknowledged the difficulties that artists face amid the energy crisis in Cuba, admitting that even rehearsing and recording music has become a challenge marked by power outages.
During an interview given to the Facebook page of the Piña Colada Festival, the leader of Buena Fe stated that musicians are also being affected by the harsh reality that the country is facing.
"We are also caught up in the cycle of blackouts. Practicing here has become an ordeal. Producing music with EcoFlow is a challenge," he stated, referring to the portable generators that many Cubans use to cope with power outages.
Rojas described a scenario marked by frustration and precariousness, where even creative work is constantly interrupted. "Entire sections of recording are lost when the EcoFlow also fails you," he lamented.
Her words come in a context where prolonged blackouts have become a part of daily life for millions of Cubans, affecting not only domestic life but also sectors such as culture and entertainment.
Despite this, the musician defended the organization of events like the Piña Colada Festival, arguing that culture can provide emotional relief in the midst of the crisis. He explained that attending concerts during difficult times can help many people "save their mental health" and escape, if only for a few hours, from the "cruelty" that —in his own words— the Cuban people are experiencing.
The artist insisted that these spaces should not be seen as an unnecessary expense, but rather as a way to uplift the spirits of a population battered by scarcity and frequent power outages.
Piña Colada sparked controversy as it took place just three weeks after, on March 13, citizens of Morón—after 26 consecutive hours without electricity—stormed the headquarters of the Communist Party, set furniture on fire, and left a young man injured by gunfire.
Arnaldo Rodríguez himself, the director of the festival and deputy for Morón, had referred to those protesters as rabble days before the event began.
On the same Saturday, Buena Fe also performed in Morón, where Rojas posted a video on social media praising the solar panels as a symbol of resilience against blackouts, a message that echoed the official narrative of the regime regarding the photovoltaic systems donated by China.
"On the rooftops of the houses, resilience begins to emerge; the landscape of solar panels is starting to be seen as a solution for obtaining electricity," Rojas stated in that video.
The energy crisis that Rojas describes from the stage is the same one that has triggered the largest wave of protests in Cuba since July 11, 2021: the organization Cubalex documented at least 156 demonstrations across the island as of March 17, with Morón as the epicenter of the discontent.
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