While the city of Holguín celebrates its end-of-summer festivities this weekend with concerts and shows, hundreds of citizens on social media expressed their outrage this Saturday at what they consider an inappropriate celebration amidst prolonged blackouts, food shortages, and a seemingly inescapable economic crisis.
The festivities kicked off on Thursday night with an artistic gala titled "Celebrating Life" at the Camilo Cienfuegos Plaza in the Cuban City of Parks, reported the official newspaper ¡Ahora!
The event brought together thousands of people and featured performances by actor Bárbaro Marín, host Yamilka Redondo, and the contemporary dance company CODANZA.
"It is an immense honor to be here in Holguín once again. After Havana, this is the city where I have worked the most in my life," Marín stated to the audience.
The activities will continue until Sunday, August 30, at four locations in the municipality, with the main venue being the Major General Calixto García Stadium, where groups such as Los Guayaberos, Ases del Ritmo, and Mentes Callejeras, among others, will perform.
But the image of the festivities clashed head-on with the reality that the people of Holguín are facing. On the same Thursday that the inaugural gala began, the entire eastern region of Cuba, including Holguín, was disconnected from the National Electric System following the simultaneous shutdown of three thermoelectric units.
The province has only 70 MW available compared to a peak demand of 240 MW, and some residential circuits have experienced outages of over 50 continuous hours.
The citizens' reaction on social media was overwhelming. "It's neither a carnival, nor is summer in Cuba pleasant, nor is it fair to cut off power to others to promote this, nor is there safety on the streets, nor is there life. So... what is being celebrated? Puppets," wrote one user. Another was more straightforward: "There’s no energy crisis for that."
Several comments pointed to a specific complaint: in the area where the festivities are held, the electricity is not interrupted, while the rest of the city remains in the dark.
"Farce and lack of respect, where blackouts are intensified in areas outside neighborhoods," noted another citizen. One more warned: "Wasting electricity now, get ready starting Monday."
The loss of food was another recurring complaint. "Meanwhile, in homes, the food one manages to get goes bad due to the lack of electricity. Truly, they have no shame," wrote a resident of Holguín.
The expression "bread and circus" appeared repeatedly in the comments, alongside phrases such as: "Bread and circus. Next week they will be worse off and without a penny."
Some even questioned the identity of the event. "The person who says that this is a carnival isn't from Holguín. Holguín was one of the provinces where carnivals were real carnivals," recalled a user, referring to the difference between the current festivities and the traditional carnivals of the city, which in the past were much more significant in scale.
The pattern repeats throughout Cuba. During this summer, the San Joaquín festivities in Guantánamo took place with a reduced program that the authorities themselves acknowledged as "tempered to the real conditions."
Additionally, the popular festivities in Cienfuegos, dedicated to the centenary of the dictator Fidel Castro (1926-2016), took place while the province endured power outages lasting more than 24 hours.
Earlier, in June, the San Juan Camagüeyano was celebrated while the electric deficit was reaching record numbers.
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