Havana has gone four days without blackouts due to generation deficits, while the rest of the country remains in the dark

Havana has gone through four consecutive days without power outages due to generation deficits as of April 23, 2026, a temporary relief that is geographically limited and stands in stark contrast to the devastating situation that persists in the rest of the country, where outages continue to last up to 24 hours a day. This is reflected in reports from citizens on social media and the informative note from Unión Eléctrica.

The relief in the capital is directly due to the crude oil donated by Russia: the tanker Anatoly Kolodkin arrived at the port of Matanzas on March 31 with 730,000 barrels of Ural crude oil, refined at the Camilo Cienfuegos plant — which had been paralyzed for approximately four months — and distribution began on April 17.

The information note from the Electric Union dated April 23 confirms that for the peak hours this Thursday, a supply of 1,973 MW is anticipated against a demand of 3,100 MW, resulting in a shortfall of 1,127 MW and a projected impact of 1,157 MW.

Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged in an interview with Brazilian journalist Breno Altman for Opera Mundi that the Russian shipment represents "one third of what we need in a month" and that "with this we can cover the needs for about 10 days."

The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, was even more direct on April 22 during the Round Table discussion: "With just this ship, we only have fuel until the end of this month". In other words, we have few days left.

Cuba needs eight fuel ships per month and from December 2025 to April 2026, it has only received one. Díaz-Canel himself revealed that the country "went four months without receiving a drop of fuel, relying on reserves from January to April."

While Havana enjoys this pause, provinces such as Holguín, Granma, and Santiago de Cuba report outages of up to 24 hours a day.

The regime politically prioritizes Havana, the epicenter of more than 1,200 popular demonstrations since January 2026, with pot-banging protests in neighborhoods like La Güinera, Santos Suárez, Playa, El Cerro, and Nuevo Vedado.

Inequality has not gone unnoticed among Cubans: "Why has the capital avoided blackouts for days while the provinces remain the same or worse? Do we not have the right to live better?"