A report from the state channel Canal Caribe celebrating the installation of solar panels at the telephone center in Niquero, Granma, as a guarantee of uninterrupted communications, sparked responses from Cubans that contradicted the official version.
The video published by Canal Caribe on Facebook highlights that 8 out of 13 municipalities in Granma already have photovoltaic structures for telecommunications, and the system installed in Niquero—with a capacity of 30 kilowatts—ensures fixed and mobile phone services as well as the Nauta Hogar service 24 hours a day.
A representative from Etecsa mentioned in the report states that "cellular coverage lasts all day and until around 9 or 10 at night, especially during times of power shortages."
But the comments below the video tell a radically different story.
A resident of Granma denies it outright: "It's a lie, I'm from Granma; when the power goes out, nothing works, it must be just in her house."
From Guisa, also in Granma, another Cuban is even more direct: "There is never any electricity here."
A resident of Guane, Pinar del Río, acknowledges that solar panels were installed in her municipality, but she points out that the benefit is minimal: "It only lasts a few hours; the rest of the time we remain disconnected, and mobile phone service doesn’t work at all at any time."
From Holguín, a resident of the Fray Benito community in the Rafael Freyre municipality describes the inequality created by the program: "We never have a connection, neither a landline nor Nauta Hogar or anything, since we are 7 kilometers from the municipal seat and we don’t receive Etecsa's signal, while they enjoy communication 24 hours a day."
Other commentators are calling for the benefits to reach Manzanillo, described as "a disaster," and several label the report as "liars" and "hot air."
Skepticism is well-founded. Etecsa admitted in June 2026 that its backup batteries only cover a few hours during outages, and at those times nearly 47.5% of mobile base stations are out of service, while 56.5% of telecommunications cabinets are affected.
The electricity generation deficit in Cuba reached a historic high of 2,208 MW on June 25, 2026, and the National Electric System has collapsed at least five times this year, with blackouts exceeding 20 hours daily in large areas of the country.
The dynamic portrayed in this video —official media presenting partial advances as total solutions, and citizens refuting them in the comments— has become a recurring pattern: "That doesn't exist in Cuba, it's a facade," summarizes one of the comments. "And if it exists, it's for the leaders, not for the people."
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