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A Cuban mother identified as Sinaí Arencibia posted on Facebook a testimony that reflects the exhaustion of thousands of Cuban families in the face of the electric crisis: her daughter has been unable to sleep for more than three nights due to the heat caused by the outages.
"Today I am posting this photo of my dark circles because I can't share the dark circles of an entire town. The sad little face of my girl who hasn’t been able to sleep for more than three nights," Arencibia wrote alongside a nighttime photograph of her hugging her young daughter.
The narrative describes a reality that has become commonplace for millions of Cubans: living with barely two or three hours of electricity a day, watching food spoil due to lack of refrigeration, and enduring nights of extreme heat without ventilation.
"I'm tired. Tired of living with only two or three hours of electricity a day. Tired of not being able to sleep due to the heat. Tired of watching food spoil because there’s no electricity to keep it fresh," the mother wrote.
Arencibia also denounces the glaring inequality that the Cuban people face against the structures of the regime: "And meanwhile, there are places that do have electricity all the time. Dollar stores, businesses, institutions… lights on while the entire population lives in blackouts, heat, and desperation."
The impact on her daughter is the most painful aspect of the testimony.
"It pains me to see my daughter crying in the early mornings because she can't sleep due to the heat. It hurts that she wants to watch cartoons like any other child in the world and can't," she recounted.
This is compounded by the pressure from the school system, which demands punctual attendance without considering the conditions in which the children live: "And on top of that, the hassle at school, because they don't care that the kids have gone hours without sleep and want them to show up tired."
The economic crisis further exacerbates the situation.
"The prices are through the roof. One works and works to survive, often ending up eating rice with ground beef after putting in all their effort to support a household," Arencibia wrote.
Despite her exhaustion, the mother describes the effort to maintain an appearance of strength in front of her daughter: "I smile so she doesn't see the tiredness. So she believes that mom can handle everything. So she has at least a little bit of peace amidst all this chaos."
The testimony of Sinaí is not an isolated case. On May 28th, another Cuban mother declared herself "mentally exhausted" after 26 hours without electricity, water, or internet, and with her daughters also unable to sleep due to the heat.
In May, a case was also documented of a seven-month-old baby covered in mosquito bites after spending the night without electricity.
The electrical crisis that Cuba is experiencing in 2026 is the worst in decades. This Tuesday, the Unión Eléctrica reported a capacity of only 1,160 MW against a demand of 2,689 MW, with an estimated shortfall of 1,970 MW during peak hours.
The day before, there was service disruption for a full 24 hours, with a peak impact of 1,918 MW. At the worst recorded moment, on May 14, the deficit reached 2,174 MW and nearly 70% of the island was without power simultaneously. In some municipalities, interruptions of up to 50 consecutive hours have been reported.
A study published in the journal Social Science & Medicine concluded that prolonged blackouts in Cuba are associated with "extremely severe" levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, with younger adults being the most vulnerable.
Arencibia concluded her publication with a phrase that encapsulates the silent resilience of thousands of Cuban families: "I speak of thousands of Cuban parents who perform miracles every day to ensure their children do not lack love, even when almost everything else is missing."
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