Related videos:
A Cuban identified as Sol Perez published on Facebook a series of testimonies that starkly depict the daily anguish of living under prolonged blackouts in Havana, amidst the worst electrical crisis Cuba has faced in decades.
"Another night without rest, without knowing how many more there are, without knowing if this will ever end, our lives slip away in this suffering. A sad reality," Sol Perez in one of her posts, accompanied by an image of her lying on the floor at the entrance of her house during the night.
In another text that is more extensive, the woman from Havana described the situation as a "psychological war" and explained what it means to endure 20 consecutive hours without electricity.
"The worst part isn't the heat. That's the least of it. It's the mind. All day thinking about whether it comes or not," he wrote.
Sol Perez also described the psychological trap that waiting imposes: "You can’t go out, you can’t disconnect, you can’t live in peace... because if you let your guard down, that’s exactly when it arrives and you lose it. You live trapped in your home, waiting for a light that appears whenever it feels like it."
The accumulated exhaustion of years in those conditions was summed up in another phrase: "You wear out like a candle end… your life slips away little by little. The years passing in the same cycle, solving, surviving… in a miserable existence."
The Cuban also described the frantic dynamic imposed by the return of electricity: "When it comes, you have to do everything in a rush, like a robot, without thinking... as if you had to fit your entire life into five minutes."
Their words reflect a reality that millions of Cubans experience. Today, the Unión Eléctrica reported a National Electric System availability of only 1,035 MW against a demand of 3,050 MW during peak nighttime hours, with a projected deficit of 2,015 MW.
Yesterday, the service was interrupted for 24 hours, with a maximum impact of 1,953 MW at 9:20 PM. In some neighborhoods of Havana, residents reported only two hours of electricity over four consecutive days, while in other areas, power outages exceeded 22 hours daily.
The crisis has triggered a wave of pot-banging and protests in Havana during the first week of June. Residents of El Vedado, Centro Habana, Playa, Regla, Habana Vieja, Cayo Hueso, and San Miguel del Padrón took to the streets on the second and third of June. Yesterday, the pot-banging continued in Regla and El Vedado.
In Reparto Zamora, Marianao, there were protests after six days of daily power outages lasting 21 hours and without running water.
The impact on mental health has been scientifically documented: a joint study between specialists from Cuba and the United States found that 55.4% of those affected experience extremely severe depression, 66% severe anxiety, and 65.8% extreme stress, directly associated with prolonged power outages.
Sol Perez concluded her testimony with no hint of hope: "The hardest part of all… is that there’s no hope left. Something inside me tells me we’re going to live like this for a long time. The ones paying for all this are the same as always. The ones on the bottom. The ones who didn’t start anything, the ones who didn’t decide anything… but we’re the ones who bear it all. This is not life. It’s not even resistance anymore. This is inhumane."
Filed under: