While millions of Cubans have been without electricity for weeks— and in some cases for more than three months— the regime inaugurated this Thursday in Havana the Fourth Continental Assembly of ALBA Movements, a meeting of 188 delegates from 27 countries convened to proclaim socialism as an "alternative for the people" and to build a "regional anti-imperialist front."
The inaugural event, held at the University of Havana, was attended by Miguel Díaz-Canel, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, the Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee Roberto Morales Ojeda, and Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, as reported by the state channel Canal Caribe.
The event, which runs until August 8 under the slogan "For socialism, a hundred years walking with Fidel," honors the centenary of Fidel Castro's birth and brings together around 400 organizations from 25 countries aligned with the political project of ALBA Movimientos.
The contrast with the reality that ordinary Cubans face is staggering.
On that same day, the forecasted deficit for peak hours reached 2,305 MW, according to data from the National Electric System (SEN). The day before, the available generation was only 926 MW compared to a demand of 3,210 MW, resulting in a deficit of over 2,100 MW.
The SEN experienced its seventh total collapse of the year on August 4, just 24 hours after the sixth one, which occurred on August 3 at 10:43 PM. This collapse left around nine million residents without power, and in Havana, only about 14% of the service had been restored, according to a report by El País.
In provinces like Holguín, some circuits experienced between 66 and 74 consecutive hours without electricity in the early days of August.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted before the National Assembly on July 30 that "there are communities with up to 105 consecutive days without electricity" and that the crisis "does not have a short-term solution."
At the assembly, speakers attributed the energy catastrophe to the U.S. embargo, describing the executive orders from January and May as part of a “genocidal energy blockade.”
One of the panelists stated, "The United States cannot allow a town just over 300 kilometers from Miami to dare to think for itself."
However, Minister De la O Levy himself acknowledged in May that the donation of Russian oil received at the end of March had already run out, and that power outages exceeded 20 hours a day at times in Havana, highlighting a structural collapse that no anti-imperialist rhetoric can disguise.
The regime insists on holding Washington responsible for a crisis that its own officials describe as unsolvable in the short term, while allocating resources and political attention to hosting hundreds of foreign delegates in the name of a revolution that, for most Cubans, translates into darkness and despair.
A Cuban consulted this week summarized the situation with bitterness: "Figure it out with someone else, I can't do anything about it."
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