"You can't leave your house": Cuban woman reports months of having only three hours of electricity a day

Cuba SugarPhoto © Facebook Azúcar Cuba

The Cuban content creator who publishes under the name Azúcar Cuba reported in a Facebook video that she has been experiencing barely three hours of electricity a day for more than two months, without a fixed schedule or the ability to plan her life.

The video generated over 400 comments from Cubans across the island who described similar or even worse situations.

"I've been at it for exactly two months, two months. I don't know who else is in this situation, because apparently no one cares. Here in my neighborhood, people are acting like it's nothing," says the woman in the recording.

The Cuban describes an exhausting routine. People stay at home all day waiting for the electricity to return, and then rush to charge all their devices.

"You can't leave your house because they can turn off the power at any time. There's no set schedule for cutting off the electricity. You have to be home all day," he recounts.

The psychological impact is also evident in their testimony: "They have us sick with anxiety, because at least for me, I don't even feel like creating content anymore."

Azúcar Cuba lives in Havana, where the energy crisis has worsened in recent months. They mentioned having read that some neighborhoods in the country have been without power for up to 105 days. Far from being a rumor, that figure has been officially acknowledged.

The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted before the National Assembly on July 30 that there are communities without electricity for up to 105 consecutive days, and acknowledged that there is no short-term solution.

The comments on the video outline a map of the crisis that extends throughout the island. A person from Cayo Hueso in Havana wrote: "Here in Cayo Hueso, we've been dealing with three-hour outages since March, and sometimes we experience blackouts lasting up to 48 hours."

Another pointed out having even less power: "We have only an hour and a half, and on top of that, with low voltage."

Several commentators put the protagonist's two months into perspective. "If you've been like this for two months, you're still doing okay, even if it sounds harsh to say it, but it's true," wrote a user.

Another person added, "In Matanzas, there is a neighborhood called Versalles that has been like this for years. Years!" A third one was more direct: "In the provinces, it has been like this for many months now. You're doing well if you started just two months ago."

The collective exhaustion was also noted: "I'm the same, very exhausted. I go to work without electricity and come back the same. No words, the stress is too much," wrote another Cuban.

One person summed up the prevailing sentiment: "That's here to stay, my friend. And yes, nobody cares."

The worst electrical crisis in recent history

The Azúcar Cuba video arrives at the worst energy crisis Cuba has experienced in decades.

In Matanzas, some circuits have experienced up to 87 consecutive hours without electricity. Minister De la O Levy himself attributed the most extreme cases to obsolete transformers, old circuits, and the systematic theft of transformer oil, but did not provide a timeline for a solution.

This Sunday, the sixth total disconnection of the National Electric System was reported this year.

The content creator ended her video with a question that thousands of Cubans are asking: "I wonder how much longer we're going to keep enduring this."

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CiberCuba Editorial Team

A team of journalists committed to reporting on Cuban current affairs and topics of global interest. At CiberCuba, we work to deliver truthful news and critical analysis.