The Cuban writer, translator, and linguist Rodolfo Alpízar Castillo announced this Friday that he will not participate in the 34th International Book Fair of Havana, scheduled from August 10 to 16, and described any expenditure from the state budget for this event as money taken from a population that is suffering from blackouts, water shortages, and a collapse of public transportation.
In a Facebook post, Alpízar recalled that months ago he was told it was impossible to hold the fair due to the difficult situation in the country, and he then agreed that it should be postponed until conditions improved.
"As I was explained several months ago that it was impossible to hold the fair due to the difficult situation in the country, and I agreed it should take place when things improved, I cannot understand how now, when we are in a much worse situation (three hours of electricity a day, water every five days or more, no public transport, oil at five thousand pesos, etc.), we are already better and the fair can be held," wrote the author.
His conclusion was blunt: "Since I can't understand that, to me, there is no fair."
Alpízar also expressed a direct moral condemnation of the public spending involved in the event: "A cent of the budget spent on the fair is, for me, a cent stolen from the welfare of the people. I will not support it with my presence, even if my gesture changes nothing."
The message concludes with a statement of personal awareness: "Nothing changes, but my conscience is at peace with me."
The voice of Alpízar carries a particular symbolic weight because it does not come from exile or traditional opposition, but from within the Cuban cultural system itself. Winner of the Aurora Borealis Prize from the International Federation of Translators in 2011 and former vice president of the Literary Translators Section of UNEAC, the author has been publicly adopting critical positions throughout 2026: in June, he launched five political demands addressed to Díaz-Canel, including #AmnistíaYa and #PlebiscitoYa.
Rejection comes as Cuba's energy crisis reaches unprecedented levels. On August 5, Cuba set a historic record of 2,411 MW of electrical impact, and between July and August, the National Electric System accumulated several total collapses. The most recent occurred between August 2 and 3.
This reality contrasts with the official narrative. The Organizing Committee itself acknowledged that the event will take place "in extremely complex and difficult times," although the regime insists on proceeding with the celebration, dedicated to the centenary of Fidel Castro's birth — whose 100th birthday is commemorated on August 13, amidst the ongoing development of the event — and with Russia as the guest of honor.
The fair was suspended on February 7, five days before its scheduled opening, when the regime implemented emergency measures due to the energy crisis. Four months later, it was rescheduled with a change of venue: moving from the historic Fortress of San Carlos de la Cabaña to the Cultural Station at Línea and 18, in El Vedado.
On social media, Cubans expressed their outrage over the decision to hold a large-scale event while families are going without electricity for more than twenty hours and standing in line to get water. Alpízar's rejection adds to the atmosphere of pot banging and protests that accompanies the official announcement of the event.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted in May that Cuba had "absolutely no fuel oil, nor absolutely any diesel", while ECLAC projects a contraction of the Cuban GDP of 6.5% for 2026 and the Economist Intelligence Unit estimates an even greater decline of 7.2%.
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