The exiled Cuban journalist Suleidy Peñate Ramos published a video on Facebook in which she denounces the devastating psychological impact that prolonged blackouts are having on the Cuban population, drawing from the desperate testimony of a friend who lives on the island.
In the nearly 12-minute video, Peñate Ramos reads out loud the message sent to him by that friend—described as a "very sensible" person—who, after more than 45 hours without electricity, shouted from her balcony until she lost her voice, with no neighbors joining her protest.
"They left me alone, everyone around thinking the same but no one joined my speech, they listened to me in silence and then when I was hoarse and nearly voiceless, unable to shout anymore, all those who could turned on their respective generators or whatever and went on with their lives as if nothing had happened," says the message read by the journalist.
The author of the testimony describes the shame and helplessness she feels in the face of that collective passivity: "They behave like the very government they criticize so quietly, which is why I feel not an ounce of spirit or pleasure in my soul when I say that I am Cuban."
Peñate Ramos, who worked at Perlavisión and served as the Director of Information at Canal Habana before exiling in Lisbon, intersperses that account with data from a scientific study published in the journal Social Science & Medicine by Cuban psychologists Yunier Broche-Pérez and Zoylen Fernández-Fleites, based on 415 adults surveyed between July and November 2025.
The results are alarming: 55.4% of respondents suffer from extremely severe depression, 66% severe anxiety, 65.8% extreme stress, and over 79% display high levels of irritability.
"These levels of psychological damage are only comparable to the harm caused by wars and major natural disasters," states the journalist in the video, which has garnered over 136,000 views and nearly 9,500 reactions.
The communicator also denounces the progressive normalization of the energy crisis among the population: Cubans who are already settling for three or four hours of electricity a day and who time their cooking, washing, and household chores during the brief window when the power comes on, even waking up at three in the morning to take advantage of it.
"It can't be that people start to settle for something that is not normal. We are in the 21st century. Where is Cuba headed?" asks Peñate Ramos.
"They are gradually extinguishing the Cuban people," concludes Peñate Ramos. "There is not only a lack of electricity, but also a lack of freedom."
In addition to the electrical crisis, there is a shortage of water and soaring food prices: an egg costs over 200 Cuban pesos, and a pound of meat can reach 800 pesos, only to spoil later due to lack of refrigeration.
The journalist also notes that alternative equipment—solar panels, portable batteries—is inaccessible for most people, as it costs hundreds of dollars and can only be acquired by those who have family members abroad.
This video is a continuation of a line of denunciation sustained from exile. In mid-July, Peñate Ramos published another viral message in which the regime owes an apology and compensation to the Cuban people, accumulating nearly 15,000 views in just a few hours.
Cuba is experiencing its worst energy crisis in decades in 2026, with at least six widespread national blackouts recorded this year and power outages in some provinces lasting up to 20 hours daily.
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