The Electric Union (UNE) announced this Saturday at 2:28 PM that the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant had reconnected to the National Electroenergetic System.
The response from Cubans was swift: a flood of mockery, countdowns, and bets inundated the official post.
Skepticism has a solid foundation. On Friday, the Guiteras was only online for 26 minutes before going offline again due to a boiler leak, making that incident a key point of discussion this Saturday.
"Did it last 26 minutes yesterday, is it going for the record today?" asked Jose Luis García Vázquez.
Orlando Dominguez Musacchio was more straightforward: "And what did they use to cover the hole in the boiler this time? Gum or playdough?"
The bets appeared quickly. "Bet: 100 USD that it won't arrive by tomorrow," wrote Lissette Alonso.
Fernando Fernández Ruz raised the stakes: "I bet 200 to 1 that he won't last 24 hours. Place your bets."
Denebis Gonzalez summed it up with irony: "Up there, to break their own record of 26 minutes."
The countdowns multiplied. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2... 1. Long live triumphalism," wrote Eliseo A.
Soap. Arlettis Izada limited herself to saying, "Tick tock, how long will it last?" while Isdel Basulto Cobas simply asked, "Count the minutes."
Dark humor also had its place. Williams Denis Alvarez commented: "I keep hoping until dawn, because that's usually when coma patients pass away." Habanero Memes was more succinct: "In 20 minutes, it will spike again."
But behind the jokes lies an exhausting reality. Leidi Maceda described it bluntly: "After 39 hours without power, they turned it on at noon and shut it off again at 2 p.m. Block #1, circuit P1242. It doesn’t matter that Guiteras is online with 200 MW."
Aleida Pérez Cabrera concluded emphatically: "THE SAME WITH THE SAME... THOSE WHO SWAY DO NOT FALL. UNTIL WHEN?"
The plant, the largest in Cuba and a critical pillar of the national electric system, has recorded at least 17 unscheduled outages so far in 2026.
Its boiler economizer has been in continuous operation for over 38 years in a corrosive environment and is responsible for more than half of all shutdowns. The facility has not received any major maintenance since 2010.
The general director of the plant, engineer Román Pérez Castañeda, acknowledged in June that they do not have the necessary parts for a more extensive repair, which would require replacing about 500 tubes, executing between 1,000 and 1,200 welding seams, and a shutdown of at least 180 days.
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