The Camagüeyan writer and journalist María Antonia Borroto Trujillo published two texts on Facebook this Thursday and Friday that quickly went viral: in the second precisely calculated the time elapsed without electricity in her home: "7 days. 172 hours - 10,320 minutes. 619,200 seconds without power."
In the first text, Borroto Trujillo —a Doctor of Communication Sciences and a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC)— ironically described everyday life under that prolonged blackout and coined the phrase that summarizes the crisis: "The Revolution has ultimately become that: carrying everything that needs to be carried."
The direct cause of the outage in the area was the failure of a transformer that collapsed every time they tried to reconnect it. As the writer herself explained in the comments of her post, the authorities took five days to respond: "The little transformer would drop out every time they connected it, and after five days, they 'discovered' that the transformer needed to be replaced with one of greater capacity."
The testimony depicts a collective survival that has become routine. "Supportive neighbors from nearby blocks notify us when they have electricity, and we go there to charge our phones, fans, power banks, Ecoflows... In other words, everything that can be charged," wrote Borroto Trujillo, who also noted that houses with more powerful solar panels function as community charging points.
The lack of electricity is compounded by the scarcity of water—the 87% of pumping facilities in Cuba rely on the electric grid—and the inability to cook with gas. "For months, most households have been cooking with charcoal. Just yesterday, a neighbor shared some embers with another so they could make use of them," the writer recounted. The price of a bag of charcoal, which was around 300 pesos in 2022, has now reached between 2,800 and 5,000 pesos in 2026 depending on the region.
Borroto Trujillo compared the situation to the passage of Hurricane Ike in September 2008, one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent Cuban history, which left over 300,000 homes damaged and losses estimated in billions of dollars. "I have felt these days almost as if after Ike," he wrote. A netizen in the comments pointed out the crucial difference: "As if a category 5 cyclone had passed, or worse, because in those cases crews of linemen from all over the country would assist with the damages."
The reactions in the comments ranged from indignation to pain. While one user stated they had been without power for two weeks, relying on solar panels and energy accumulators, another reported 35 consecutive days without electricity. "It's criminal, torturous. I wish to see high-ranking officials in that situation," wrote one internet user. Another summed up the situation with bitterness: "It's a matter of getting used to living poorly until the end of our lives."
The episode is part of the most severe electrical crisis Cuba has faced in decades. The National Electroenergy System experienced at least six total collapses in 2026, according to Bloomberg Línea, the most recent occurring on the night of August 2. The generation deficit exceeded 2,305 MW during the peak hours of August 6, with power outages lasting up to 20 and 24 hours daily in many areas. In Matanzas, outages were recorded lasting up to 87 consecutive hours between July and August.
It is not the first time that Borroto Trujillo has publicly denounced the energy collapse. On August 1, he published a satirical piece about the Electric Company titled "Basic Manual for Communicating with Cuba's Electric Company and Not Having a Heart Attack in the Process," which also circulated widely on social media. His posts this Friday concluded with a question that went unanswered by officials: "Today is another day. Life goes on, it must go on, and it has to be something else. How long?"
Related videos:
Filed under: