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The Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz led a working session in Havana on Thursday to assess the energy crisis in the capital, and concluded the meeting with a call for officials to leave their offices and go "to the streets alongside the people," as power outages exceed 20 hours a day and protests spread throughout the city.
The meeting, covered by the official media outlet Cubadebate, included the participation of the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy; the President of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, Antonio Rodríguez Rodríguez; the Minister of Communications, Mayra Arevich Marín; and the Secretary of Organization of the Communist Party, Roberto Morales Ojeda.
De la O Levy explained that the deterioration of the service is due to the "combined effect of the fuel shortage and the unexpected shutdown of several generating units," and warned that the situation "will remain complex."
The Minister of Energy and Mines acknowledged on Wednesday the true extent of the collapse: "In Havana, the blackouts today exceed 20, 22 hours. And when they do happen, it’s 2 hours, an hour and a half, 2 hours, 3 hours in some circuits, 4 hours, and we go back to 20, 22 hours again. That’s how it is in the capital."
On Thursday, the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant —the most powerful in the country— went offline for the ninth time in 2026 due to a boiler malfunction, with repairs estimated to take three to four days.
The Electric Union forecasted a peak nighttime impact of 1,639 MW this Friday, in a system that on Tuesday recorded a record deficit of 2,113 MW at 8:40 PM, with only 1,230 MW available against a demand of 3,250 MW, leaving 61% of the country without electricity.
The president of the INRH reported that on Thursday morning, there were 376,055 people affected by water supply issues in Havana: 66,961 due to breaks and the rest due to lack of electricity.
Moreles Ojeda acknowledged during the session that "there are still reservations in the organizational and subjective order" regarding electrical issues, water supply, food production, and communication with the public, and he urged a "sensitive, humane, and supportive approach, without neglecting discipline and demand."
Marrero Cruz concluded the meeting with slogans of resistance: "We can do many things if we work together," he affirmed, and promised that "we will fight, and we will win."
On Thursday night, new protests erupted in Guanabacoa with barricades and bonfires. The police suppressed the demonstrators, who responded by throwing stones.
In recent days, protests in the Bahía neighborhood calling out "Down with the dictatorship!", demonstrations in San Miguel del Padrón shouting "Power and food!", and a blockade on Calzada de Concha in Luyanó have marked an unprecedented escalation in the capital.
The State Security deployed motorcycles and patrols, and there were reports of massive internet outages during the demonstrations, with at least 14 arrests in Havana since March 6 related to pot-banging protests.
The Cuban Conflict Observatory recorded 1,133 protests just in April, a 29.5% increase compared to the same month in 2025, with 176 documented repressive acts.
The structural cause of the crisis is the fuel shortage: since December 2025, Cuba has not received regular oil supplies, and in April, only one of the eight monthly vessels that the country claims it needs arrived. A Russian donation of 100,000 tons of crude oil temporarily alleviated the situation in April, but it ran out in early May, just as temperatures began to rise in anticipation of summer.
This Friday, the United States Embassy in Havana issued a security alert for its citizens in Cuba due to power outages and protests, warning that the outages affect water, lighting, refrigeration, and communications.
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