Residents of Matanzas report this Tuesday electricity cuts lasting up to 85 consecutive hours, the most extreme figure recorded in the province, which the Cuban authorities themselves have acknowledged as the most affected by blackouts in all of Cuba.
The most serious reports come from circuit 1456, in the area of Calzada de San Luis, from Parque Maceo to La Jaiba, where residents have accumulated 85 hours without electricity service.
In Los Mangos, 62 continuous hours without power have been reported, while other residents of the same circuit are reporting 63 hours without electricity since six in the evening on Saturday.
The figures from other municipalities in the province are equally alarming: in Coliseo, 87 hours are reported; in Jagüey Grande, only two hours of electricity over seven days; in Cárdenas, power outages of between 60 and 72 hours with just 20 minutes of light when the service is restored.
«Coliseo: 87 hours and counting», wrote a resident on social media of CiberCuba. Another one reported: «Jagüey Grande, in Matanzas: two hours of power in seven days».
The cruelest paradox is expressed by the geographic proximity to Varadero: "Santa Marta is 56 hours away, just a 10-minute walk from Varadero," noted a local resident. Another added: "Varadero's hotels have electricity, but we do not".
Desperation is reflected in the testimonies: "No matter how much one says, we are clear that we are going to die. I can't take it anymore. My brain is about to explode. Without sleep, eating poorly, with nowhere to turn. Unable to work due to the endless power outages, and what little I had left is already going to waste. Sad, sad, sad. My country is consuming itself."
The crisis is not limited to Matanzas. In General Carrillo, a municipality in Remedios in Villa Clara, a resident reported "up to 96 hours and more of blackout, completely cut off, far from the municipality and without resources to survive." In Sagua la Grande, 72 hours have accumulated; in Cruces, Cienfuegos, 71 hours from Thursday to Sunday.
The national report published today by the Unión Eléctrica in its informative note explains the magnitude of the disaster: at six in the morning, the availability of the National Electro-Energy System was only 1,020 MW compared to a demand of 2,610 MW, with 1,606 MW affected.
For the nighttime peak hours, a deficit of 1,980 MW is predicted along with a disruption of 2,010 MW.
Among the causes are malfunctions in several thermoelectric units, including the CTE Antonio Guiteras, located precisely in Matanzas, which has now experienced its 13th outage of the year following a leak in the boiler reported last Thursday.
The paradox of Guiteras is structural: it is the largest single block of generation in the country, yet its energy feeds into the national system and does not guarantee a stable supply for the province where it is located.
In addition, 106 distributed generation plants remain out of service due to a lack of fuel, with 890 MW not being produced, and the total megawatts unavailable due to fuel amounts to 1,203.
In April, the electrical authorities of Matanzas had already acknowledged that the province has the highest "maximum load shedding" in the country —174 MW distributed across 123 circuits— and that there are circuits that have accumulated more than 40 consecutive hours of outages, which is unusual in other provinces. The records from June 2026 far exceed that mark, reaching more than double in several circuits.
The director of Guiteras, Román Pérez Castañeda, acknowledged that the plant would need a shutdown of about 180 days for a comprehensive repair that the Cuban electrical system cannot afford, as it lacks the necessary parts.
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