In the early hours of this Friday, Cárdenas experienced another act of vandalism against its already deteriorating electrical infrastructure: unknown individuals stole the dielectric oil from the transformer located on Calvo Avenue between Tenería and Salud, as reported by the local official media Telebandera on its social media.
At the time the report was published, authorities had not yet conducted the technical assessment that would allow them to quantify the exact amount of oil extracted. The incident is already being investigated as sabotage to the electrical service.
The theft affects circuit 4427, popularly known as "zone 4," and it is the second blow that this circuit has suffered in just eight days: at the beginning of August, another theft at the coastal substation left more than 3,900 customers without electricity, a situation that remains unresolved.
The accumulation of damages paints a bleak picture for the municipality. According to data from the Office of the Electric Work Brigade (OBET) cited by Telebandera, 17 transformers are out of service in Cárdenas for various reasons, leaving nearly 10,000 customers without electricity supply.
The hardest hit are the residents of Salé and Cantel, who have gone without electricity for seven consecutive weeks.
The theft of dielectric oil has become an epidemic affecting all of Cuba in 2026. In the province of Matanzas alone, more than 90 transformers have been impacted by this criminal activity.
The motivation is economic: the oil is resold in the informal market as a substitute for fuel for tractors and trucks at prices exceeding 600 pesos per liter, in a context of widespread fuel shortages.
The magnitude of the problem reached the National Assembly. The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, acknowledged on July 30 that the volume of stolen oil was "almost similar" to that produced during the same period, and warned that some communities had been without electricity for up to 105 days due to damages to transformers that could not be replaced quickly.
The regime responded with an iron fist on paper: the Opinion 475/2025 from the People's Supreme Court instructs the courts to apply Article 125 of the Penal Code—classified as sabotage—to anyone who damages critical infrastructure, with penalties ranging from 7 to 30 years of imprisonment, life imprisonment, or even the death penalty in aggravated cases.
In May, an employee of the Electric Company of Isla de la Juventud was sentenced to 8 years for appropriating 60 liters; in Ciego de Ávila, several accused received sentences ranging from 7 to 12 years.
Despite the sentences, the thefts continue unabated. On August 11, authorities in Mayabeque dismantled a gang of six individuals who climbed poles without ladders, pried off caps with bars or machetes, extracted the oil using hoses, and transported it in plastic tanks on bicycles.
A day later, another man was arrested in Unión de Reyes for stealing 30 liters from a substation.
For the residents of Cárdenas, the numbers translate into weeks of darkness, without water and with no hope for a resolution. "The municipality is going through a complex situation with damaged transformers," summarized Telebandera, while Salé and Cantel await someone to restore what has been taken from them.
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