Energy crisis interrupts radio and television signals in Matanzas

The energy crisis affecting Cuba struck again this Saturday, impacting communications in Matanzas, where radio and television signals experienced interruptions and a loss of quality due to power outages and a shortage of spare parts to repair essential equipment, acknowledged the Territorial Division of RadioCuba through the official newspaper Girón.

The impact occurred just a day after the fourth complete collapse of the National Electric System (SEN) so far in 2026.

In its statement, RadioCuba attributed the problems to the recent failures of the National Electric System (SEN) and assured that its operators, along with those from the state-owned and sole telecommunications company in Cuba, Etecsa, were working to restore the service "amid a complex scenario."

During the outage, the entity reported that the television signal could be tuned to channel 51 in the Matanzas area and to channel 20 in Colón.

Hours later, the Territorial Directorate of RadioCuba announced the restoration of regular radio and television frequencies in the province.

The interruption of the broadcasts occurred after the SEN collapsed on Friday due to a failure in the 220 kV line between Santa Clara and Sancti Spíritus.

At that moment, the system was operating with only 935 MW of availability against a demand of 3,100 MW, reflecting the extreme fragility of electricity generation on the Island.

Matanzas is among the most affected areas by the energy crisis. In the days leading up to the national blackout, some circuits went without electricity for up to 96 consecutive hours.

Additionally, the province reports eight substations out of service and 63 damaged transformers, a situation that has progressively deteriorated the functioning of other essential services.

The difficulties in broadcasting are not new either. Since July 2025, RadioCuba itself had acknowledged that the transmitters in the province were operating below their capacity due to a lack of raw materials to repair the equipment.

The situation is repeated in other regions of the country. In May, the Boniato transmission center in Santiago de Cuba was out of service due to electrical shortages and fuel scarcity.

Two months ago, a malfunction at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric power plant left radio and television signals out in the provinces between Camagüey and Pinar del Río.

The general director of RadioCuba, Leonardo Vázquez, admitted in May that the generators have years of service and show significant wear, while a good portion of the broadcasting equipment is energy inefficient, a diagnosis that reflects the deterioration of an infrastructure increasingly vulnerable to the ongoing failures of the electrical system.