"We have been sleeping on the rooftop for over a week": The struggle of a Cuban mother overwhelmed by power outages

The woman is diabetic and cannot take insulin. She is without electricity, without water, and her daughter is covered in mosquito bites.



Cubans sleeping on the rooftopPhoto © Facebook / Havana Electric Company / Odalis Acosta Calderón

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A resident of the Cerro municipality in Havana described on Facebook the inhumane conditions in which her family lives after more than a week of continuous blackouts: unable to inject insulin, without potable water, and with her daughter covered in mosquito bites from sleeping outdoors on the roof of their home.

Odalis Acosta Calderón, from block 1 on Vigía Street, shared her testimony directly on the page of the Electric Company of Havana, where it gathered thousands of reactions.

"We have been sleeping on the rooftop of my house for more than a week. That photo is from this morning, packing up the camp. I can't take insulin, the girl is covered in mosquito bites and there's no drinking water, because I rely on electricity to run the pump, since my tanks are elevated," he wrote.

The woman reported that the day before her post, the electricity came on at 3:30 PM and was cut off at 5:50 PM, just two hours and twenty minutes of service. "Nothing can be done," she concluded.

Capture from Facebook / Electric Company of Havana / Odalis Acosta Calderón

Your complaint is not an isolated case.

In the comments on the same post, a resident of Old Havana stated: "That's how I am; I've been sleeping on the rooftop for 7 days, with mosquitoes tormenting my little girl who can't take it anymore, and without a rechargeable fan; just imagine, they're very expensive."

From Holguín, another user pointed out that many sleep in doorways and cook with firewood.

A third party claimed to have been camping on the balcony for over a month with their family.

The Cerro municipality is part of block 6 of the power outage in Havana, which on July 2 suffered 24 hours and 35 minutes without electricity, according to data from the state entity itself. On the same day, the Electric Company of the province disconnected dozens of circuits due to a "national generation emergency", with a deficit of 2,100 MW against a demand of 3,200 MW.

The outrage in the comments pointed directly at the regime's rhetoric.

Miguel Díaz-Canel coined the term "creative resistance" to describe how doctors and workers are facing blackouts. The citizen response was clear: "The great dilemma is that those who call for creative resistance are not experiencing what the majority of the population is. To think like the people, you must live as the people do; everything else is just pure rhetoric."

Other comments were more direct: "It is inhumane to endure without light, without water, without food, in the midst of these blackouts; people have to sleep on the street or in the yard, on the rooftop, on the balcony, or anywhere they can to get some sleep." Someone else wrote: "It is a massacre without weapons against the Cuban people."

Odalis bitterly summarized what millions of Cubans feel: "When I see a leader who says we must resist, if curses existed, I believe they would no longer be in power."

The electrical crisis that Cuba is experiencing in 2026 is the most severe in its recent history. The National Electroenergetic System operates with only 1,100 MW available against a demand of 3,200 MW, leaving between 65% and 70% of the country without electricity simultaneously. In Matanzas, there have been outages lasting up to 87 consecutive hours, and in Havana, blackouts have averaged over 30 hours for more than a month.

Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged on June 12 before the Communist Party that "resistance alone is not enough" and that there are "obstacles that do not come from the blockade," yet he did not offer any concrete solutions.

Meanwhile, residents of La Lisa protested in front of the PCC headquarters after more than 50 hours without electricity, and residents of Regla took to the streets on Thursday after over 24 hours without light.

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CiberCuba Editorial Team

A team of journalists committed to reporting on Cuban current affairs and topics of global interest. At CiberCuba, we work to deliver truthful news and critical analysis.