After traveling to Havana, a Cuban resident in Kentucky, United States, described the current situation in Cuba as , joining a series of accounts from visitors who have documented the island's rapid decline in 2026.
In her account, which has gone viral on Facebook, she states that "Reality is harsher than many imagine: power outages for hours every day, entire nights without electricity where the heat is unbearable, unable to sleep, unable to rest."
Regarding the situation of other basic services, he assures that "Water hardly arrives, and when it does, it's only for short periods, as if it were a privilege. People are surviving, not living."
"Searching for food is an odyssey, standing in endless lines for anything, figuring out how to cope because there simply isn't any. The most striking thing isn’t just the scarcity; it’s the sadness felt in the streets, in the gazes, in the exhaustion of a people who can’t take it anymore. Cubans have always been resilient, but this isn’t living. It’s pain, it’s frustration, it’s helplessness. We can’t keep hiding what’s happening, because it’s real and millions are experiencing it every day," he emphasizes.
This type of testimony has become a recurring phenomenon this year: Cubans in the diaspora returning to see their families, and foreign tourists visiting the island, come back with descriptions that coincide in their essence: prolonged blackouts, empty stores, water scarcity, and a visible exhaustion among the population.
A Spanish tourist who visited Cuba earlier this year summed it up with a widely circulated phrase: "One of the toughest yet most incredible trips of my life." She noted constant blackouts, fuel shortages, and garbage piling up in the streets.
A Cuban resident in Germany who returned to the island in January was even more straightforward: "It wasn't a vacation." She encountered power outages, water shortages, almost empty stores, and difficulties paying with the local currency, in addition to the presence of diseases such as Zika, dengue, and chikungunya.
Another Cuban who visited her family in Baltony, Songo-La Maya, in Santiago de Cuba, encountered a harsh reality: the community had been without electricity for more than two weeks because the oil from the local transformers had been stolen. "I went and faced the harsh reality," she stated.
The data supports these accounts. According to figures collected by media in 2026, 33.9% of Cuban households reported having experienced hunger recently. 80.4% were affected in their ability to cook due to power outages, and 48.3% lost food due to lack of refrigeration. 81.3% must boil or chlorinate water before consuming it.
The national electrical system, outdated and at its limit, has experienced six total collapses so far in 2026, with deficits exceeding 2,000 MW and power cuts lasting up to 20 hours a day in some provinces. In March, blackouts affected 64% of the national territory.
The energy crisis carries down the rest of the basic services. Without electricity, water pumping systems fail, refrigerated foods go to waste, and cooking becomes impossible for millions of families.
The that Cuban hospitals have been forced to suspend most of their services, maintaining only intensive care and emergency care.
The Minister of the Food Industry of the regime publicly admitted that Cuba has been unable to deliver basic products such as oil, chicken, and yogurt through the ration system, the supply booklet that the State formally guarantees to each household.
A Cuban woman who returned to the island after a decade was left in shock upon witnessing the situation. Testimonials collected in July describe families buying food only to lose it hours later due to a blackout, and individuals who rearrange their entire daily routines around the times when electricity is available.
The Spanish blogger Susafly, who traveled through Havana, Viñales, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Santa Clara, and Cayo Santa María in December 2025, published an extensive account in January of this year and concluded with a statement that encapsulates the general sentiment: "It doesn’t seem like 2026 will be very different."
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