A Cuban mother of four posed a question that has resonated with thousands of users on social media and highlights the gap between official rhetoric and the daily reality of many families on the island: how can someone be "creative" to survive when charcoal for cooking costs more than their salary?
Elen Guevara, who claims to live in the area known as "La Feria, the so-called Parque 26 de Julio," without specifying the province, posted a video on Facebook that has surpassed 111,000 views in just a few days, accumulating nearly 3,000 reactions and over 530 comments.
In the recording, the woman showcases the conditions in which she lives with her four children and explains, with a mix of irony and resignation, how she copes with the blackouts and shortages.
"I use a mosquito net for the mosquitoes. When it gets really hot, I take them outside so they can catch the fresh air, that is, the air of the poor," he comments as he walks through the place where he lives.
The lack of electricity has also forced her to cook on an improvised wood stove. "Charcoal costs over two thousand pesos," she says while showing the rudimentary system she uses to prepare food.
It was then that he responded sarcastically to the Cuban leader's call to confront the crisis with "creativity."
"I have already gotten creative. My president told me to be creative, and I am using my creativity," she states before posing a question directly to Miguel Díaz-Canel: "I want him to explain to me how I can be creative with a salary of two thousand pesos."
The video responds to the speech delivered by Díaz-Canel on July 26 in Pinar del Río, during the central event for the 73rd anniversary of the attack on the Moncada barracks. In that address, the leader stated that “the response to suffocation is inventiveness, creativity and, even if it bothers them, also the joy of the Cuban people.”
His statements sparked a flood of criticism and ironic comments on social media. "What joy?", "What creativity?", and "That's a joke" were some of the responses from users.
It is not the first time that the ruler has resorted to that message. For several years, Díaz-Canel has been insisting on the so-called "creative resistance" as a formula to confront the deep economic and energy crisis the country is experiencing. In March 2026, official media even presented the use of charcoal stoves during power outages of up to 15 hours as an example of this adaptability.
However, the situation faced by millions of Cubans continues to deteriorate. Only in July 2026, Cuba experienced three national blackouts in just ten days —the fifth total collapse of the National Electric System so far this year—, with generation deficits of up to 2,315 megawatts and power outages in some provinces exceeding 39 consecutive hours.
This is compounded by the high cost of cooking alternatives. In the informal market, a sack of charcoal was sold for between 3,200 and 5,000 pesos, an amount that exceeds the monthly income of many workers.
Although the minimum wage was increased in July 2026 from 2,100 to 3,210 pesos, its purchasing power remains very limited compared to the cost of living. Various estimates suggest that around 96,000 pesos per month are needed to cover the basic needs of a family.
Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged on June 18 that “resistance alone is not enough”. However, his call for “creativity” remains a constant in the official discourse.
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