The Antonio Guiteras power plant, the largest in Cuba, announced this Sunday on its official Facebook page that it was "online and generating 190 MW," accompanying the announcement with the hashtag #MatancerosEnVictoria.
The response from the Cubans was not one of relief or celebration, but of sharp irony that encapsulates years of accumulated frustrations.
"Enter and leave and feel nothing," wrote an internet user, in what quickly became the phrase that best captured the collective mood in response to the announcement.
Other comments were equally skeptical: "Ready to go off the air again in a few hours," "Let's see how long it lasts," "And how does this benefit us???" and "Set a date to avoid confusing old news with new" were some of the reactions that flooded the post.
Distrust has historical roots. The Guiteras plant, inaugurated in 1988 in Matanzas and with a nominal capacity of between 250 and 330 MW, has accumulated approximately twenty unscheduled outages so far in 2026 and has not received major maintenance since 2010.
The most significant incident occurred on July 17, when the plant synchronized with the National Electroenergy System (SEN) and disconnected from the system just 26 minutes later due to a leak in the boiler. On July 26, it disconnected again due to failures in the economizer and the low-temperature air reheater. On August 4, it reconnected to the SEN amidst the recovery from the seventh national blackout of the year.
It currently generates 190 MW, a figure significantly lower than its nominal capacity, which did not go unnoticed by internet users: “Where is it generating to?” one asked. “The people are not aware,” another quipped. A third offered perhaps the most graphic diagnosis of the situation: “Please, don’t suffocate it; remember it’s an old woman with rouge who trembles every time she gets some propaganda.”
There were those who were even more direct in their distrust: "They are already announcing that it will be released. Every time they say how much it is generating, it's because they are going to take it offline."
The announcement comes at the worst possible time for the Cuban energy system. This Sunday, the government anticipated an impact of up to 2,193 MW during peak nighttime hours, with a mere availability of 1,087 MW against a projected demand of 3,250 MW. On Saturday, the maximum impact reached 2,281 MW at 10 PM, with service compromised for 24 hours.
The SEN has completely collapsed seven times in 2026; on August 4, a historic record of a real outage of 2,411 MW was recorded. Several units from other power plants remain out of service, and the limitations of thermal generation represent hundreds of additional MW in deficit.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted before the National Assembly at the end of July that there are communities experiencing up to 105 consecutive days without electricity and that "the road is long" to address the crisis, also acknowledging the lack of fuel to stabilize the system.
Meanwhile, on social media, Cubans continue to mockingly count the minutes of operation of the old thermoelectric plant.
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