Three women from Guanabacoa, Havana, stayed awake until 3:30 in the morning to prevent workers from the Electric Company from taking the transformer from their block, after another group of workers attempted to remove it during the day without showing, as they reported, an order that justified the operation.
The story was told by the user @yara_lapoderosa in two videos posted on Instagram that have generated thousands of reactions.
In the first recording, made during the day, the woman confronted the workers and questioned why they chose to leave just after she started recording them.
“Gentleman, robbed, more than proven. Because if you come to my block with an order that validates you and allows you to take the transformer, when I pull out my cell phone and start recording you, why did you pack up and leave? What was the fear?” he questioned.
According to his account, one of the workers tried to end the argument by telling his colleague, "Don't argue, don't argue, get in, we're leaving." In the end, the truck left the site without taking the equipment.
The neighbor, however, feared that they would return during the night. As a background, she mentioned what had happened in another nearby area, where, according to her, the workers supposedly came back in the early hours after being unable to take a transformer during the day.
"We're not going to allow what happened to the people over there, by the Escolapios, to happen to us, who went in the morning but couldn't get in, and then went at night without a pass and were taken away," he stated.
A shift with coffee until dawn
In light of the fear that the same might happen, the woman, her husband, and two other neighbors decided to organize a watch to protect the transformer.
A neighbor stayed with them until after midnight. Afterwards, the three women continued to watch the street, coffee in hand.
At 3:30 in the morning, what they feared occurred.
"When we thought nothing was going to happen, surprise! The little cart appeared, my friend, at three thirty in the morning," he recounted in a second video.
According to the complainant, the workers explained this time that they were responding to a "report" related to a supposed malfunction of the transformer. The women confronted them again, and according to their account, the workers themselves ended up admitting that the equipment had no issues.
The vehicle left again without removing the transformer.
Beyond the tension of the early morning, the woman lamented that few residents left their homes to join them.
"It pained me greatly, it saddened me, to see that while we were talking, explaining that we have very good vocal talent, none of our neighbors joined us, none of our neighbors came out. Gentlemen, this is for everyone," he expressed.
The complainant tagged the Electric Union (UNE), the People's Power, and the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in her post and requested an investigation into the events.
"Those involved in the supervision of these trucks and transformers in Guanabacoa should pay attention to their workers, who seem to be acting behind their backs. Because if there is no crime, why did they leave?" he questioned.
The incident is not an isolated case. On August 7, residents of Marianao thwarted a similar attempt by demanding to see the work order that the workers could not provide. In July, residents of La Gallega, also in Guanabacoa, prevented the removal of transformers intended for another circuit. And in June, neighbors in Santiago de Cuba reported the same practice in various neighborhoods of the city.
Behind these episodes lies a structural crisis acknowledged by the regime itself. The UNE admitted in June that there is no physical availability of replacement transformers in any province of the country, and in Havana around 25 transformers get damaged every day.
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