Residents of the Havana municipality of Marianao blocked the operations of a crew from the Electric Company on Thursday that was attempting to disconnect a circuit without presenting the documentation that authorized the maneuver, according to reporter Mag Jorge Castro on X.
The neighbor Gisselle Zea was one of the spokespersons for the incident and reported that the line workers refused to provide the corresponding work order, a document that would have legally supported the disconnection.
According to the complaint, that maneuver would have left the area without electricity for at least 24 hours, which stirred the emotions of the residents.
In response to the workers' refusal, the neighbors held the crew at the site, called the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) and government representatives, while shouting at the linemen with cries of "Shameless!" and "Corrupt!"
The brigade's guard vehicle left the area once a police patrol arrived on the scene.
The episode reflects a growing distrust among the population towards the electric brigades, which have been accused in multiple instances of acting arbitrarily or without proper documentation. The demand for work orders has become a practice of citizen oversight that is recurring in various parts of the country.
Marianao has accumulated one of the most intense histories of community mobilization against blackouts so far in 2026. In May, residents closed streets in protest after more than 20 hours without electricity, and in July, residents of the Zamora neighborhood took to the streets to protest after more than 24 hours without power and days without water.
The incident this Thursday is not an isolated case in the conflict between residents and electrical crews in Havana. In mid-July, residents of Calabazar, in Boyeros, detained two line workers from the Electric Union accused of illegally selling electricity from the neighborhood to private businesses in exchange for money and beer.
On July 30, in El Fanguito, a lineman restored the supply shortly after neighbors blocked a street in protest against the power outages.
On August 1st, in San Miguel del Padrón, tensions escalated further when a truck from the Electric Company arrived escorted by members of the so-called "black berets", the National Special Brigade of MININT, which the neighbors perceived as a preventive intimidation tactic.
The energy crisis fueling these confrontations has structural roots: in July 2026, it was reported that approximately 25 transformers were failing daily in Havana, and the Electric Union itself acknowledged in June that there was no physical availability of spare parts in any province of the country.
The PNR has been summoned by both neighbors and the brigades themselves in various incidents, illustrating the extent to which the electrical conflict in Cuba has turned into a public order issue that the regime is unable to contain.
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