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The Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel published an extensive message on his Facebook account this Wednesday, in which he accused the United States of wanting to take the Cuban people "as hostages" to turn them against their own government, while Cuba faces the worst energy crisis of the year.
The ruler attributed the collapse of the electrical system exclusively to the U.S. embargo and warned that a deficit of over 2,000 MW was forecasted for this Wednesday during peak nighttime demand.
"It is a perverse design whose main objective is the suffering of the entire people, to take them hostage and turn them against the Government," wrote Díaz-Canel, in what marks one of his strongest statements against Washington this year.
The official stated that the unavailability of fuels caused by what he referred to as "that criminal blockade" is costing Cuba 1,100 MW of generation just this Wednesday.
The crisis described by Díaz-Canel has concrete figures. On Tuesday, the actual impact on the National Electroenergetic System reached 2,113 MW, a new annual record, surpassing the 2,075 MW recorded on March 6th.
This Wednesday, the system's availability was only 1,200 MW compared to a demand of 2,860 MW, resulting in power outages of more than 20 hours in several municipalities of Havana.
Precisely on Tuesday night, residents of Marianao, Reparto Bahía, and Luyanó staged pot-banging protests, bonfires, and street blockades after more than 20 hours without electricity. On Wednesday morning, there were messages reading "Patria y Vida" painted against Díaz-Canel in Arroyo Naranjo. The leader did not mention any of these protests in his post.
Díaz-Canel acknowledged that Cuba needs at least eight fuel ships per month, but in April only one arrived, the Russian tanker Anatoli Kolodkin, with 100,000 tons of crude, whose cargo was depleted by the end of that month.
"The arrival at a Cuban port of just one fuel ship, out of the eight needed each month, allowed for a reduction in the deficit and, consequently, in the blackouts that, although not completely eliminated, were somewhat mitigated," admitted the leader.
The regime is directly targeting two executive orders from the Trump administration: 14380, signed on January 29, 2026, which imposed secondary sanctions on countries supplying oil to Cuba, and 14404, signed on May 1, which expanded restrictions on the energy, defense, mining, and finance sectors, and set a deadline of June 5 for foreign companies to close their operations with the Business Administration Group (GAESA).
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has rejected the regime's narrative, denying the existence of a naval blockade and attributing the crisis to the incompetence of the Cuban government and its historical dependence on external subsidies.
Díaz-Canel's stance ignores that the Cuban energy crisis is structural and predates the measures from Washington. The National Electric System has experienced at least seven total collapses in 18 months, a result of decades of disinvestment and mismanagement under the dictatorship.
The leader concluded his message with a statement of resilience: "Always ready for dialogue on equal terms, we will continue to resist and create, increasingly convinced that it is up to us to leap over the enormous difficulties with our own efforts, united as a nation, and steadfast in facing the toughest challenges."
OE 14404 sets June 5, 2026, as the deadline for foreign companies to cease operations with GAESA, which could further exacerbate the island's economic and energy isolation in the coming weeks.
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