A Cuban known on social media as "Soy El Kielo" posted a 17-second video on Facebook that starkly summarizes the energy reality of the island: gathering discarded wood from a neighbor to have something to light the fire and prepare food.
In the clip, the man shows the materials he managed to obtain and explains the situation straightforwardly: "Look at this, in order to cook..., the neighbor was throwing away some wooden planks here from the board, look at this, I asked her for it to be able to cook."
The video, published under the hashtag #RealidadCubana, adds to other posts that document how millions of Cubans have reverted to cooking methods from centuries past.
It is not the first time this content creator has documented this reality. On March 28, 2026, he published another video showcasing a rudimentary stove made of stones and logs under the title "Cuba, year 2026: we are almost indigenous," a phrase that has become a widely used ironic expression among Cubans to describe the regression imposed by the energy crisis.
The situation is not an isolated case. In the midst of 2026, many Cubans have to resort to firewood, charcoal, sawdust, or any combustible material they can find to cook. Liquefied gas, when available, is sold in dollars, an unattainable currency for those earning in Cuban pesos. Charcoal is considered an impossible mission to obtain in many areas of the country.
Behind this scarcity is the collapse of the Cuban electric system. Blackouts last between 22 and 36 hours daily in several provinces, and Cuba has experienced eight total national blackouts in 24 months, five of which occurred in 2026 alone. In May of that year, the generation deficit exceeded 2,113 MW, a record annual high, compared to a demand of 3,000 MW.
The search for firewood does not fall solely on adults. According to previous testimonies, minors must gather wood before going to school, and daycare centers have cooked with firewood or sawdust to feed the children. This practice has also accelerated deforestation in several regions of the island.
The president Miguel Díaz-Canel publicly urged the population to cook with firewood and charcoal, thereby acknowledging the collapse of the energy system that the regime has been managing for decades. Modernizing that infrastructure, according to estimates, would require between 8,000 and 10,000 million dollars and a minimum timeframe of three to five years, a perspective that offers little relief to those today searching for wood in the streets to be able to eat.
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