"Even if I go out to the street alone": The cry of a desperate Cuban father for his children

A Cuban father named Renato Miguel García Granado published a direct denunciation against the Electric Company of Havana and the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel, in which he warns that he will not remain silent in the face of his children's suffering, even if he must face the consequences alone.

"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," wrote García Granado on Facebook, alongside an image of his young daughter lying face down on the floor of their home.

The father explained that the girl sought the coolness of the floor to escape the unbearable heat caused by the blackouts affecting Havana.

"I don't care if they get bored with the posts, I don't care if only four people see them, I don't care what might happen to me," he stated, making it clear that fear of potential reprisals from the regime will not stop him.

His most emphatic message was a direct warning to the authorities: "If I have to go out on the street alone to demand what we deserve as human beings, I will do it."

This post comes two days after García Granado became a symbol of Cuban despair by revealing that his daughter “was trying all by herself to find something cold to sleep,” an image that prompted a flood of reactions on social media.

In that first publication, the father asked bluntly: “Is this human? Is this communism?”, and outright rejected the 176 economic reforms announced by Díaz-Canel.

The case of García Granado is not isolated.

On Friday, another Cuban father, Eduardo Ragnar Lothbrok Muñoz Mora, posted a photo of his two children sleeping in the entrance of his building after more than 24 hours without electricity, describing the government's reforms as "another circus to buy time."

The context in which these reports arise is that of a historic energy crisis in Cuba, with deficits of up to 2,075 MW during peak hours and only 1,035 MW available against a demand of 3,050 MW.

In Havana, power outages are lasting over 24 hours in several neighborhoods, while in some areas of Matanzas, residents experienced more than 72 consecutive hours without electricity during June.

Extreme heat exacerbates the trap: Pinar del Río recorded a historic high of 37.6 °C on June 13, and the Meteorological Institute has forecasted an "extremely hot" summer.

The Cuban electrical system has experienced at least seven total collapses in the last 18 months, and the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, acknowledged in May that the situation is "acute, critical, and extremely tense" and that Cuba "absolutely has no fuel, no diesel, only associated gas."

García Granado concluded his publication with a phrase that encapsulates the accumulated anger of millions of Cubans: "Enough of keeping us in this state of misery, leave the country with your millions but let us move forward, no one deserves this."