The National Electroenergetic System (SEN) of Cuba experienced its fifth total blackout of 2026 at 11:05 AM on Tuesday, as confirmed by the Electric Union through its official channel, marking the third blackout in just eight days and the tenth in approximately 24 months.
The speed at which the collapses are occurring is unprecedented in the electrical history of the island.
The fourth total blackout of the year occurred on Friday, July 10 at 4:30 PM, triggered by a fault in the 220 kV transmission line between Santa Clara and Sancti Spíritus.
Four days earlier, on July 6, the SEN had already collapsed for the third time this year without the Electric Union being able to identify an immediate technical cause.
The regime's response has been politically evasive. On Friday, July 10, Díaz-Canel called to "better organize the blackouts" without announcing any measures to increase generation.
The next day, he attributed the crisis to the "genocidal oil blockade" by the United States, ignoring that the structural cause is outdated infrastructure and decades of disinvestment.
The Cuban population reacts with a blend of dark humor and desperation.
On social media, the comments reflect a collective exhaustion: "It used to be once a year, then each time a cyclone occurred, then it became twice a year... now we're at one a week," wrote a user.
Another person renamed the system: "It's no longer called SEN, now it's SIN."
A third voice summed up the general sentiment: "This is already a meme; we are a circus. And the best part is that we don’t even have to pay for admission."
Discontent has overflowed onto social media. According to the Cuban Conflict Observatory, in June 2026, there were 107 street protests recorded in Cuba, a historical record and nearly double the previous maximum.
In July, the protests with pots and pans have continued in neighborhoods of Havana and Santiago de Cuba, met with police operations and militarization.
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