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A Cuban mother posted on social media some images showing her seven-month-old baby covered in mosquito bites, a direct consequence of power outages that prevent the use of fans or air conditioning during the nights in Cuba.
In her complaint, the woman directly points to the top of the regime: "They should be ashamed to have 7-month-old children and any age sleeping without power, in the heat, and with mosquitoes. Then when they catch dengue, Zika, or any virus, they want to impose fines, control the houses, and start fumigating."
The mother doesn’t stop there: "They should all be ashamed to sleep with air conditioning and fans while our children are struggling and in such need. WORDLESS."
The message encapsulates the anger of millions of Cubans who see how the ruling elite enjoys continuous electricity while the people — especially the youngest children — suffer the health consequences of power outages.
The images are circulating at the worst time of the Cuban electrical crisis in decades.
This Thursday, the Electric Union projected that 70% of the national territory would be without power during peak hours, with a generation capacity of only 976 MW compared to a demand of 3,150 MW, resulting in a deficit of 2,174 MW.
Last Tuesday, Cuba recorded a historic record deficit of 2,113 MW at 8:40 PM, surpassing the previous maximum from March 6, 2026. In Havana, power outages last between 20 and 22 hours daily, with cycles of only one and a half to four hours of electricity.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, described the situation of the National Electroenergetic System yesterday as "acute, critical, and extremely tense."
The mother's complaint also highlights the hypocrisy of the regime regarding healthcare.
When children contract dengue, chikungunya, or other mosquito-borne diseases, authorities respond with fines to citizens, home inspections, and fumigation campaigns, but they are unable to ensure electricity so that households can protect the vulnerable.
Cuba closed 2025 with at least 65 official deaths from dengue and chikungunya and over 81,900 infected. The Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory reported at least 87 deaths just between October and November of that year.
In November, the Ministry of Public Health reported 34 minors hospitalized in serious or critical condition due to chikungunya, with children accounting for 65% of severe cases in Santiago de Cuba.
This is not the first time a Cuban mother has reported this situation. In April 2025, another woman posted a video showing her son with massive bites on his arm during a nighttime blackout, despite using a mosquito net.
In September 2025, Miguel Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged "disproportions" in the distribution of blackouts, recognizing that the provincial capitals had "comfortable" cycles while the municipalities endured outages of up to 25 hours.
The response from Cubans on social media was immediate: "There is a disproportion in everything: they have electricity and the people do not."
The image of the baby covered in welts speaks for itself, capturing in silence what 67 years of dictatorship have left to Cuban families: a regime that sleeps with air conditioning while its children wake up bitten by mosquitoes.
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