The Cuban comedian Mario Sardiñas, creator of the character Chequera from the show "Vivir del Cuento", posted a video on Instagram yesterday in which his famous character decides to leave Cuba for the Moon, fed up with the 16-hour blackouts plaguing the island.
In the sketch, Chequera boards a spaceship called "Artemisa" — affectionately nicknamed "Temisa" — with unwavering determination: "Not another day here. The next blackout, 16 hours, let someone else take care of it. I'm heading down."
When asked why he wants to go to the Moon, Chequera's answer is as simple as it is striking: "Because the Moon is the only place that never loses power at night."
The character humorously addresses the objections about adapting to the satellite: "Is it because of the cold? Look, I have a thick coat. And if you're talking about the holes in the surface, I'm also adapted to the holes in the surface," making a direct reference to the terrible condition of Cuban streets.
The ending of the video delivers a dose of dark humor that encapsulates another of Cuba's everyday tragedies: just when the ship is about to take off, the mission is aborted because "the fuel from the ship has been stolen", alluding to fuel theft, one of the endemic issues exacerbating the energy crisis on the island.
The video accurately reflects the desperation of millions of Cubans in the face of an unprecedented electricity crisis.
During the first week of April, Cuba recorded daily electricity generation deficits of between 1,600 and 1,945 MW, with blackouts affecting 100% of the territory for up to 24 continuous hours.
This Friday, a new Automatic Frequency Drop left several municipalities in Havana without service, with 1,676 blackout reports accumulated and an average duration of 24 hours.
The Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant, one of the most important in the country, experienced consecutive breakdowns in February, March, and April, further exacerbating the collapse of the national electrical system.
Sardiñas, who has been residing in Dallas, Texas, since late 2025, continues to produce humorous content from exile that resonates with the Cuban community both on the island and in the diaspora.
It is not the first time the comedian has directed his jabs at the energy crisis: on March 30, he released another viral video where Chequera "sold" a pot as an ironic solution to the blackouts, and on April 7, he sarcastically commented on low-denomination bills: "Get ready for the wave of inflation coming, daddy."
"Vivir del Cuento," the program that turned Chequera into the most beloved character on Cuban television, has been on the air for over 14 years, and its humor about daily struggles continues to be, for many Cubans, one of the few outlets to cope with an increasingly suffocating reality.
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