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The Cuban Workers' Central (CTC) called on the workers of Camagüey to engage in voluntary workdays in the lead-up to May First, with a specific encouragement for this date to serve as motivation to provide solutions to the most pressing issues in production and services, particularly the shortage of energy carriers.
The events took place in agricultural areas of La Victoria, where workers from various companies, entities, and political and mass organizations responded to the call of the official union.
Agricultural activities were prioritized, described by official media as "very useful for the development of the food program", in a complex scenario due to the shortage of fuels and other resources.
The event was led by Walter Simón Noris, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in the province, who assumed the position on March 25, 2025 after being transferred from Las Tunas.
The call from the CTC shifts to the workers themselves the responsibility of solving a structural crisis that the Cuban State has been unable to confront: the collapse of the national energy system.
The National Electric System operates with chronic deficits exceeding 1,900 MW in December 2025, experiencing power outages of up to twenty hours a day in several provinces.
Between 83 and 101 distributed generation plants were shut down due to a lack of fuel during that period, equivalent to between 754 and 909 MW unavailable, according to data from the Electric Union.
The term "energy carriers" encompasses electricity, fossil fuels, manufactured gas, and other essential inputs for production, all of which are in a critical situation on the island.
Cuba has planned an energy carrier consumption of 7,547,000 equivalent tons for 2026, an increase of 1,253,000 tons compared to the previous year, while the government promotes an "accelerated conversion" of the electrical system with renewable energy goals.
The everyday reality of Cuban workers stands in stark contrast to official slogans: the May Day of 2025 mobilized more than 600,000 people in Havana and 5.3 million across the island, amidst reports of coerced participation and workers who had gone up to six months without receiving salaries in some state-run companies in Santiago de Cuba.
The government should have stockpiled fuel since early morning to transport workers and students to the capital parade, amidst widespread shortages, a contradiction that illustrates the depth of the crisis that is now being asked of the workers themselves to resolve.
The CTC, the only official union allowed in Cuba, organizes these pre-May Day activities each year as part of the so-called "socialist emulation."
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