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A man died and another suffered severe burns on Friday night in the town of Altos de Esperanza, municipality of Songo La Maya, province of Santiago de Cuba, after attempting to steal dielectric oil from a transformer bank and causing an explosion that left two municipalities without electricity.
The Electric Company of that province reported the incident through two posts on its social media, in which it detailed what happened and provided an update with the results of the investigation.
According to the first statement, two individuals stole dielectric oil from a bank of transformers that supplied the water pumping system for that community.
At the time of the incident, there was an explosion in the transformer, causing the 33 kV line that supplies the municipalities of Songo La Maya and Segundo Frente to trip.
The entity confirmed that one of those involved in this incident has died and the other is suffering from severe burns.
The entity classified the act as a crime with serious consequences, as outlined in the Law No. 151/2022, Article 125, Section 1, Clause a) of the Penal Code.
They emphasized that it also constituted an attack on the infrastructure that supports everyday life and the economic development of the country.
The company also explained the critical role of the extracted oil: the dielectric oil acts as a coolant and as an insulator, helping to maintain appropriate temperatures within the equipment.
Its extraction can lead to failures, explosions, and blackouts in the affected communities, as happened in this case with the municipalities Songo La Maya and Segundo Frente.
The entity also warned about the cumulative impact of these thefts, noting that the incident creates a cumulative deficit of an essential input for the operation of the electrical system, the severity of which lies both in the economic value of the stolen product and in the consequences it brings for the population.
In a second publication, the Electric Company specified that the two individuals were brothers and that the survivor acknowledged his involvement in the theft.
"The incident has been clarified. There were two individuals involved: one deceased and the other, his brother, who acknowledged his participation. 70 liters of the stolen oil were recovered 100 meters from the scene of the incident," detailed the state-owned company.
As of the publication of this note, those involved in the incident have not been publicly identified.
Background
This is not an isolated fact.
In September 2025, another man died in Santiago de Cuba while attempting to steal dielectric oil from a transformer on the Siboney Road.
In November 2024, the theft of 300 liters at the Paquito Rosales Substation in the Dos Caminos community of the San Luis municipality left thousands of people without electricity. In December of that same year, authorities arrested a resident of the Las Américas neighborhood in Contramaestre for selling oil stolen from transformers.
The applicable legal framework imposes severe penalties.
The Supreme People's Court, through Opinion 475 issued in May 2025, reaffirmed that sabotage to the electrical system can be punished with prison sentences ranging from seven to 15 years, and in severe cases, with life imprisonment or death.
The 100% of those judged for these crimes between January 2025 and the first quarter of 2026 received sentences exceeding 10 years. The official spokesperson Humberto López reiterated these threats yesterday on the state program "Hacemos Cuba".
The incident occurs amid an unprecedented energy crisis.
In 2026, the electricity generation deficit in Cuba has exceeded 2,040 MW during peak hours, with total collapses of the National Electric System, the most severe of which lasted nearly 30 hours from March 16 to March 18.
Santiago de Cuba has experienced blackouts of up to 24 hours daily, a reality that drives some citizens to desperate acts with frequently fatal consequences.
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