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The official announcement that the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant has re-synchronized with the National Electric System this Thursday, reaching 200 MW of generation, sparked a wave of mockery and skepticism among Cubans on social media, who pointed out that the news did not change their reality: blackouts lasting over 20 hours.
The reconnection of Guiteras to the electrical system occurred several days after the plant went offline on May 24 due to a leak in the economizer, marking its third breakdown just in May and between the ninth and tenth outages from the system so far in 2026.
“Hello everyone, I’m collecting bets on how many days Guiteras will last without going out. The winner takes everything except for the current, which goes on its own,” wrote Erick Hernandez on social media, in one of the most shared comments.
The dominant tone was irony. "Oh, how nice. By the way, I have no electricity," summarized Ivonne Reveron Lines. Cecilia Ugalde Fariñas added: "Today, during my sleepless night due to the blackout, I will take comfort in knowing that Guiteras is online, even if I can't see the difference."
Ana Hernández was more direct: "I don't understand how they aren't embarrassed to publish that it's working; honestly, I would be ashamed."
From the provinces, the picture described by Cubans was equally bleak. René Matos Blancart reported from Campechuela, Granma: "We're going on 27 hours of blackout, much larger than yesterday without Guiteras." Leosdan Dan highlighted the territorial inequality: "While Havana only has two blocks without power, Holguín has circuits that have been without electricity for more than 24 hours."
Luis Suarez Castañeda offered his own calculation: "If I divide that number by 10, I get the hours I don't have electricity. 20 hours. What difference does it make if that total generation unit comes online or not; the operator just needs to sneeze for the boiler to melt down."
Distrust is based on recent history. Only in May, the Guiteras went offline on May 5 due to a boiler malfunction, on May 14 due to a leak — the day Cuba recorded a record deficit of 2,174 MW — and on May 24 due to a flaw in the economizer. Following this last breakdown, a plant executive acknowledged that poorly executed repairs are part of the problem.
Andrés Lezcano did not hide his skepticism regarding the reconnection: "That will only last until the afternoon before it goes out again."
Ivan Barrios acknowledged the efforts of the workers but pointed to management: "The effort that the EMCE workers put in to repair the units is always appreciated, but behind all of this is the hand of the one who, under their responsibility, needs to ensure fair rotations in the circuits, and the reality is that they do whatever they want."
The 200 MW provided by Guiteras are insufficient against a demand that exceeds 2,700 MW. On May 26, the Electric Union reported a mere 1,195 MW availability at dawn, and blackouts in Cuba have not abated despite the reconnection.
Mauro René González summarized it with a question that captures the popular sentiment: "What’s the point of it working if everything remains the same?"
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