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Residents of Matanzas are reporting electricity cuts lasting up to 85 consecutive hours, the most extreme figure recorded in the province, which even the Cuban authorities 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 gone 85 hours without electricity service.
In Los Mangos, there have been reports of 62 continuous hours without power, while other residents in the same circuit report 63 hours without electricity since six o'clock 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 within seven days; in Cárdenas, outages range from 60 to 72 hours with just 20 minutes of power when the service is restored.
“Coliseum: 87 hours and counting,” wrote a resident on the social media of CiberCuba. Another reported: “Jagüey Grande, in Matanzas: two hours of electricity in seven days.”
The cruelest paradox is expressed by the geographical 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 no resources to draw from. Unable to work due to the endless hours of blackouts, and what little I had left is already starting to spoil. Sad, sad, sad. My country is consuming itself."
The crisis is not limited to Matanzas. In General Carrillo, a municipality of Remedios in Villa Clara, a resident reported "up to 96 hours and more of blackouts, completely cut off, away from the municipality and with no resources to survive." In Sagua la Grande, they have accumulated 72 hours; in Cruces, Cienfuegos, 71 hours from Thursday to Sunday.
The national report published today by the Electric Union in its informative note explains the extent of the disaster: at six in the morning, the availability of the National Electricity System was only 1,020 MW against a demand of 2,610 MW, with 1,606 MW affected.
For the peak nighttime hours, a deficit of 1,980 MW is forecasted and a disruption of 2,010 MW.
Among the causes are breakdowns in multiple thermoelectric units, including the CTE Antonio Guiteras, located precisely in Matanzas, which has now experienced its 13th outage of the year after a leak in the boiler was recorded last Thursday.
The paradox of Guiteras is structural: it is the largest single generating unit in the country, yet its energy feeds into the national grid 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 unavailable megawatts 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 spread across 123 circuits— and that there are circuits that have accumulated over 40 continuous hours of outages, which is unusual in other provinces. The records from June 2026 far surpass that mark, reaching more than double in several circuits.
The director of Guiteras, Román Pérez Castañeda, acknowledged that the plant would require 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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