The Cuban actor Luis Alberto García Novoa bid farewell to summer with a Facebook post filled with irony that captures the mood of millions of Cubans: “Thank you very much for the wonderful summer you have gifted to what remains of this citizenship”, he wrote this Saturday, on the eve of the beginning of the 2026-2027 school year.
The message did not stop there. García announced that starting this Sunday, it would be necessary to pay attention to the "course" of events in the new school year, which he described as "for the sleepy, depressed, and attention-deficit individuals," a characterization that encapsulates the accumulated exhaustion of the Cuban population after months of blackouts, shortages, and repression.
The summer that García satirizes was, according to all available indicators, one of the toughest Cuba has experienced in decades. The electricity generation deficit reached a record of 2,400 MW in August, and so far this year, there have been seven complete failures of the National Electric System. In some communities in Matanzas, the outages lasted up to 80 consecutive hours.
García documented this reality from his own home in the Playa municipality, Havana. On July 5th, he reported 34 consecutive hours without electricity or water, and days later he reported three days and three nights without power, warning that "the food is spoiling."
On July 31, following the repression of protesters demonstrating against power outages, García described the authorities' actions as "unconstitutional and very, very undemocratic," adding, "This behavior, unfortunately already habitual, is not the fault of the blockade." Last Thursday, he reported a police operation near his home at the roundabout of 146 and 9na, in Playa, and questioned Díaz-Canel: "If the gentleman in the interview [...] assures the Brazilian that the vast majority are with him and his administration, what is the fear?".
The context in which the new school year begins on September 1 is equally grim. The Minister of Education, Naima Trujillo, acknowledged that only 20% of the students will receive new uniforms, compared to a demand for 3.6 million garments that production could not meet. The educational system also faces a shortage of thousands of teachers, with provinces like Camagüey and Holguín each having over 2,000 vacancies. The Communist Party of Cuba described this start as "another act of heroism".
The comments on García's post reflected the same sense of disillusionment. "This summer has been worse than a 3D horror movie," wrote one internet user. Another pointed directly at those in power: "The disconnection of those in power in Cuba from the people is staggering […] CHANGE NOW." A third person anticipated what awaits students: "It's terrible what they have to face with nothing at all to start a school year, how sad it all is."
Other users focused on the children. "It’s terrible what awaits the students with nothing, it’s all very sad, and the government is completely disconnected from this people," one wrote. Someone turned to dark humor: "This year will really be a disaster, that’s for sure." Another was more concise: "Our children don’t deserve this crap."
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