Neighbors of La Habana Vieja took to the streets this Saturday, shouting "Freedom!" after enduring more than 40 consecutive hours without electricity, marking a new expression of public frustration in the face of the worst energy crisis in Cuba's recent history.
The journalist Mario J. Pentón shared on his Facebook account a video that showcases the protest amidst total darkness.
“Look, Mario, this is Old Havana, see, it’s all dark. Look all around, look 360 degrees, all of Old Havana,” can be heard in the images. One of the people who sent the footage to the journalist was direct in their message: “We need the world to see what this tyranny is doing to us. The misery it imposes on the Cuban people.”
The protest occurs at the worst moment for the Cuban electrical system. As explained by the Director General of Electricity of the MINEM, engineer Lázaro Guerra Hernández, the country is facing a supply of only 1,015 MW against a forecast demand of 3,150 MW, resulting in a deficit of 2,165 MW for the nighttime peak.
The outlook is even gloomier because the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant, the largest generating facility in the country, is experiencing its 16th breakdown of the year and will not be available for the nighttime peak this Saturday.
"There are no generator units being added today," confirmed Guerra Hernández. Their reinstatement to the system is expected for Sunday, contingent upon satisfactory hydraulic tests.
To this scenario are added 106 distributed generation plants halted due to a lack of diesel, representing a loss of 890 MW, along with other strategic facilities inactive due to a lack of fuel, totaling an additional 1,203 MW unavailable.
On Thursday, June 25, Cuba had already recorded a historic absolute deficit of 2,208 MW, surpassing the previous record set on May 14. By dawn on this Saturday, the impact was already around 1,800 MW.
Protests over power outages have become a constant in 2026. The Cuban Conflict Observatory recorded 1,311 demonstrations in May of this year, a 29.5% increase compared to May 2025 and the highest monthly record in history.
Since May 13, the sound of pots and pans has been occurring almost daily in various parts of the capital. Cubans in Old Havana had already protested on May 25 with the same cry of "Freedom!" after 23 hours without electricity.
The regime has systematically responded to protests with police deployments, arrests, and internet outages.
The energy crisis is further compounded by the theft of dielectric oil from transformers, which the General Director of the Electric Union, Rubén Campos Olmos, called sabotage: "When that liquid is extracted, the transformer is often damaged, but it immediately goes out of service because it needs it."
Experts estimate that recovering the Cuban electric system would require between 8,000 and 10,000 million dollars and between three to five years of work, a perspective that contrasts with the reality of a country where communities in Matanzas experienced up to 85 consecutive hours without electricity just two days ago.
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