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The state-owned Unión Eléctrica (UNE) announced this Sunday that the National Electroenergetic System (SEN) was restored at 6:30 in the morning following the fourth total blackout of 2026, which occurred on Saturday.
According to the official Facebook post of the CTE Antonio Guiteras, the plant resumed operations generating 200 MW, while Units 3 and 4 of the CTE Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and Unit 1 of the CTE Lidio Ramón Pérez Felton were also reported online.
The announcement, rather than bringing relief, sparked a wave of skepticism and irony in the comments on the post.
The most representative of popular sentiment was unequivocal: “Countdown starting now to see how long the Guiteras remains operational online.”
Other users were just as straightforward. "200 MW. It's almost over," wrote one.
Another person made their own calculations: "They've been at it for nine hours already, how many do they have left? 48 - 9 = 39." A third person sarcastically addressed the plant itself: "Hey there, Antonio Guiteras Holmes, I have a question: were you coming in or going out?"
The skepticism was not unfounded. The Guiteras has accumulated 17 outages so far in 2026 and has not received major maintenance since 2010, with pipes that have not been replaced in over four decades.
His last outing, on July 3, was due to a leak in the economizer of his boiler. The collapse of the SEN on Saturday interrupted precisely the synchronization process of the plant that was underway at that time.
While the UNE celebrated the reconnection, dozens of Cubans reported in the comments that the blackout continued in their areas.
"But most of Holguín remains in the dark, who can understand this?" asked one user. Another pointed out that La Sierpe, a municipality in Sancti Spíritus, has been without electricity since Thursday.
From Güira de Melena, in Artemisa, someone wrote: "Since before the blackout, we haven't had electricity." Campechuela, Colón, and Manopla also appeared in the comments as areas that remained in the dark.
The contradiction between the official announcement and the reality on the ground was summed up by another Cuban in a single phrase: "In other words, according to you, more is being produced while less is being delivered."
The blackout on Saturday, the eighth total collapse of the National Electroenergetic System (SEN) in approximately 24 months, was caused by a failure in the 220 kV line between Santa Clara and Sancti Spíritus at 4:30 PM, which split the system and left more than nine million Cubans without electricity.
It occurred in the worst energy context in the country's recent history: on July 9, a historic record of generation deficit of 2,341 MW was recorded, with only 935 MW available against a demand of 3,100 MW, and Cuba has gone more than three months without receiving oil shipments.
The Minister of Energy, Ángel Díaz-Canel, had acknowledged on Friday that the increase of 400 MW scheduled for July would not meet demand and requested to "better organize" the blackouts, a statement that sparked widespread outrage on social media.
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