A Cuban identified as Yosdiel Gattorno published a satirical video on TikTok on Sunday that became a reflection of the crisis: with dark humor, he proposes three "profitable businesses" to survive on the island in 2026: selling grass for horses, selling charcoal, and reselling diluted bleach.
“If you live in Cuba, you are most likely stunned, but don’t worry, I have the solution to your problem,” Gattorno begins, whose video accumulated 37,800 views, 1,709 likes, and 157 shares in just a few days.
The first business he describes is cutting grass with a machete and selling it in bags to horse owners. This is not an unfounded joke: animal traction has become the norm in Cuba as a means of transportation due to the fuel crisis. The video shows a real transaction where a buyer takes two bags and promises to return for five more.
The second business directly targets the energy crisis: the sale of charcoal. "With these blackouts happening, it's a super profitable and safe business; everyone is going to come to buy from you," says Gattorno, while showing a sale for 3,000 Cuban pesos per bag and 500 pesos for the small portion. Blackouts in Cuba exceed 20 hours daily in many areas, and the national electrical system has completely collapsed at least seven times so far this year.
The third business is perhaps the most revealing of the collective desperation: filling a tank with water and selling it on the street as if it were pure gold. "You take your best tank, fill it with water, and just like that, you're selling on the street," explains the author, describing a practice that reflects both the scarcity of the product and the precariousness of consumers who cannot verify what they are buying.
The video by Gattorno is part of a well-established trend of Cuban humor on social media that uses irony to denounce the crisis from within. Other creators have addressed the price of oil, the scarcity of gasoline, and blackouts with the same tone: laughing at what hurts because crying is no longer enough.
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