A resident of the municipality of Madruga, in the Mayabeque province, posted a video on Facebook in which he questions the state-run and sole Telecommunications Company of Cuba S.A. (Etecsa) about the deterioration of services in that area, while recalling that the entity justified its dollarization of rates with the promise of improving the network for all Cubans.
The author, Jose Jnr Pacheco Hernandez, titled his complaint as an open letter: "ETECSA... online with the world, and Madruga what part of the world is it?".
In the 59-second video, Pacheco describes a situation that recurs without a solution in sight. "In the specific case of Madruga, as soon as the electricity goes out, the internet connection, as well as mobile and fixed services, dies with it," he explained.
The complaint raises a direct question about the real consequences of that disconnection. "How are we going to mobilize forces? Or call the fire department in case of a fire? Or report a criminal act in an inhabited house to call the police? Or call an ambulance, for a medical case, for handling documents, for banking?" she questioned.
The Cuban also asked rhetorically, "Will unfortunate events have to occur for them to install solar panels the next day for a service they charge for?"
Etecsa implemented a rate hike on May 30, 2025, limiting top-ups in Cuban pesos to 360 CUP per month and creating plans in dollars —ranging from 10 USD for four gigabytes to 35 USD for 16 gigabytes— with the argument of capturing foreign currency to sustain and develop services.
The measure generated massive rejection, and even the official press criticized that ETECSA disconnected from Cuban reality, pointing out that the new rates deepened social inequalities.
Despite the protests, the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel ruled out reversing the rate hike, and an internal source from the company confirmed that the decision was made at the national level and would not be changed.
The Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz informed the National Assembly that just 46 days after the rate hike, Etecsa raised over 24 million 839 thousand dollars, averaging 540,000 dollars per day, while promising to reinvest them in infrastructure.
However, the company itself acknowledged in December that its backup batteries are insufficient to maintain service throughout the duration of the outages, allowing for only a few hours of operation.
In January 2026, Etecsa added new burdens to the pockets of Cubans by imposing up to three dollars per minute for international roaming calls, one dollar for SMS, and one dollar per megabyte of data.
The complaint from Madruga illustrates the central contradiction faced by thousands of Cubans a year after the price hike, with a company that charges more and more in dollars but still fails to provide basic communication when the power goes out.
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