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The Cuban comedian and actor Ulises Toirac published a poignant reflection on life during blackouts in Cuba this Sunday on Facebook. He accurately depicts the survival routine of millions of Cubans and concludes with a straightforward political statement aimed at those who govern the Island.
In the text, Toirac describes the daily life of someone moving through their home guided by "the light of some rechargeable bulb," managing water "with the strictness imposed by not knowing when you'll have the chance to have it again," and living with "the guillotine of darkness" hanging over their mind every time electricity returns.
The comedian uses the neologism "sobremurió" to refer to a close person who passed away "from natural causes," weary of misery and frustrated day after day "with a useless life that led him to anonymity, even from himself."
It also describes Cuban children arguing in the street with "thin, sweaty, and dirty" bodies, and questions why ETECSA's towers are out of service during outages because their batteries are dead, leaving those who pay for that service in dollars without communication.
"The most painful thing is that it has no end. It will continue indefinitely, getting worse each time because there are no solutions to the Holocaust," wrote Toirac, in what constitutes one of the harshest assessments made by a public figure within the country regarding the crisis consuming Cuba.
The reflection concludes with an unequivocal political critique: "Look how you languish, watching people from both sides, well-fed and prosperous, deciding what is best for you."
The publication arrives at the worst energy moment in Cuba's history. On July 8, the National Electroenergetic System recorded a historic deficit of 2,341 MW, affecting 73% of the population simultaneously.
On July 10, the fourth total blackout of the year occurred, the eighth in two years, with only 935 MW available compared to a demand of 3,100 MW. In Matanzas, outages have lasted for 87 consecutive hours; in Havana, the average is 15 hours per day.
The causes are structural: thermoelectric plants that are between 40 and 60 years old without maintenance, 106 distributed generation plants shut down due to a lack of fuel, and the interruption of oil supply from Venezuela since January 2026.
The regime's response has been striking in its emptiness.
The Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz attributed the crisis to the U.S. embargo, describing it as "genocide," while ignoring that the collapse is due to decades of disinvestment and mismanagement by the regime itself.
Days before the collapse, Miguel Díaz-Canel merely asked for a better organization of blackouts, without announcing any measures to increase generation capacity.
This Sunday also marked the fifth anniversary of the 11J protests of 2021, with clanging of pots and pans in Guanabacoa and protests in Old Havana, where residents shouted “we want freedom, not electricity.”
This Sunday’s reflection is the culmination of a week filled with critical positions from Toirac.
On July 4, he demanded the release of all political prisoners and days later, he questioned what kind of revolution decides who should step forward.
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