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The Cuban musician Alain Pérez joined the outrage shaking social media after the image of a small girl sleeping face down on the tiled floor of her home, due to the unbearable heat caused by power outages. "I share the pain of my people and denounce! Join us +," wrote the artist while sharing the original post on Facebook.
The photo was published by Renato Miguel García Granado, the father of the little girl, along with a direct complaint against the Electric Company of Havana and the regime. "The one you see in the photo is my daughter. I didn’t put her to sleep on the floor, and I never will. She was just trying to find something cold to sleep on. Is this humane? Is this communism?" he asked.
García Granado did not limit himself to the image. In his statement, he made it clear that he will not remain silent: "I will continue to denounce the Electric Company of Havana, the Government of Cuba, and everyone who harms or could harm my family, especially my children. I don't care if people get tired of my posts, I don't care if only four people see them, and I don't care what might happen to me. What I will not allow is the unnecessary suffering of my babies."
The scene takes place at the worst moment of the Cuban electric crisis in decades. On Saturday, the Electric Union reported an estimated impact of 1,600 MW at noon and a forecast of 2,075 MW during the nighttime peak, with only 1,035 MW available against a demand of 3,050 MW. In several neighborhoods of Havana, power outages lasted between 20 and 24 hours a day.
Extreme heat turns those hours without electricity into a direct threat for the most vulnerable. On June 13, Pinar del Río recorded a historic high of 37.6 °C, and the Meteorology Institute predicted an "extremely hot" summer. The electrical system has experienced at least seven total collapses in the last 18 months, including a national blackout on March 16, 2026.
It is not the first time that Pérez has raised his voice regarding the situation in Cuba. In July 2021, during the protests of 11J, he condemned the regime's repression with the words: "Long live a free Cuba! Everything I am, I owe to my people, to my community. Out of respect for my parents, I strongly condemn this great injustice."
His statement comes at a time of widespread discontent regarding the 176 economic reforms announced by Miguel Díaz-Canel on June 12 and supported by Raúl Castro on June 17, which the population views as inadequate given their daily suffering.
García Granado, for his part, summarized the gap between those in power and those who suffer with a phrase: "Leave the country with your millions, but let us move forward; no one deserves this, for God's sake."
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