While millions of Cubans endure power outages of up to 25 hours a day, the regime presented the Flag of the National Vanguard Collective to the Integrated Project Execution Management of the Electric Company of Cienfuegos in a ceremony held at the solar park Pepe Rivas, which is currently under construction.
The award —the highest recognition of the Cuban socialist emulation— was presented by Alfredo García Pérez, a member of the National Secretariat of the Energy and Mines Workers' Union, to Marisol Viña Valdés, the secretary of the union section, in the presence of officials from the Communist Party and the Central Workers' Union of Cuba.
The recognition was justified by the construction of four photovoltaic parks in the province: Alcalde Mayor, inaugurated on February 28, 2025; La Yuca, on May 21; Mal Tiempo, on June 6; and Pepe Rivas, starting in January 2026.
We were the only province in Cuba at that time to be working on three parks simultaneously, highlighted the project leaders during the award ceremony.
However, the energy reality of the country contradicts any celebration. The blackouts have left more than 200,000 Cubans without water, worsening a crisis that spans the entire island. The projected deficit for the nighttime peak reached 1,842 megawatts, a figure that reflects the collapse of the national electrical system.
The figures are devastating: the availability of just 1,202 megawatts compared to a demand of 3,050 highlights the severity of the energy disaster affecting the population. Additionally, Cuba has fuel for almost nothing, as acknowledged by Díaz-Canel himself.
The thermal infrastructure offers no relief either: the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes thermal power plant has been out of service for over a year. In the meantime, twelve families in Vedado had accumulated over 100 hours without electricity this Friday, a symbol of the everyday struggles faced by Cubans.
Experts warn that restoring the Cuban electrical system would require an investment of 10 billion dollars, an amount unattainable for a regime that, instead of providing real solutions, prefers to distribute flags and accolades while the population remains in darkness.
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