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The Minister of Energy and Mines of Cuba, Vicente de la O Levy, appeared on television this Wednesday to acknowledge the "discontent" of the population regarding blackouts, but his statements immediately provoked backlash from Cubans who described the situation not as discontent but as an abuse by the regime in light of the electricity crisis.
In his appearance, De la O Levy attempted to justify the power outages with arguments that the public flatly rejected: “No electrical system is designed to have blackouts,” he said, adding that no one plans for sargassum or boiler breakdowns in thermal power plants.
But in the comments on the minister's statements, Cubans expressed their exasperation:
"It’s time for them to leave; don’t prolong the inevitable any further," they asserted. "But when it comes to repression and for the Mercedes and BMWs of Canel, there's more than enough!"
Others questioned: "And what is the solution? Does the public have to continue paying for their irresponsibility?"
The minister himself acknowledged that in Havana —the province he describes as the most "protected"— blackouts last from 20 to 22 hours daily, with only two hours of electricity.
"The situation is very tense. The heat continues to rise. We need fuel. Fuel is coming in through private channels, but the volumes are insufficient," he acknowledged.
The figures support the seriousness of what the official describes as "discontent": on Tuesday, the actual maximum impact on the system reached 2,113 MW at 8:40 PM, with a availability of just 1,230 MW against a demand of 3,250 MW. Due to a lack of fuel, Cuba stopped generating 1,100 MW this Wednesday.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged that the crisis is "particularly tense" and estimated a projected deficit of over 2,000 MW for the nighttime peak. In April, only one of the eight fuel ships that Cuba claims to need at a minimum each month arrived.
The response in the streets was overwhelming. On Tuesday night, acasserole protest erupted in the Bahía neighborhood with chants of "Down with the dictatorship!", while in San Miguel del Padrón,neighbors protested in front of the municipal government shouting "Electricity and food!".
In Marianao, there were pot-banging protests, bonfires, and garbage burning, and on Sunday, a blockade occurred on Calzada de Concha in Luyanó.
This is not the first time that De la O Levy has faced public rejection for his appearances. In April, Cubans questioned the Minister of Energy for having led the ministry for years without resolving the crisis.
On that occasion, he went so far as to claim that without the United States embargo, the reduction of blackouts would have been "extraordinary," a justification that the Cubans also rejected.
The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded 1,133 protests in April 2026 alone, marking a 29.5% increase compared to the same month the previous year. The regime has responded with militarization and at least 14 arrests in Havana since March 6 related to the pot-banging protests.
The UN described the situation in April as a humanitarian emergency: more than 96,000 surgeries delayed, nearly a million people relying on water tank trucks, and almost half a million children facing shortened school days. For the Cubans enduring 22 hours without electricity in the heat of May, the minister’s words come across as mockery.
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