The Cuban activist Yamilka Lafita, known on social media as Lara Crofs, described this Sunday the situation in her neighborhood in Havana after more than 20 hours of continuous blackout: a device from the electrical transformer, commonly referred to as "caballito," exploded and was engulfed in flames, leaving her entire block in the dark.
In a Facebook post, Lafita recounted: “After more than 20 hours of blackout, we heard an explosion and then a large short circuit followed by the little horse completely engulfed in flames. The whole block was in darkness, and we were filled with despair and stress, knowing that it would take God knows how long for the issue to be resolved. Surviving in Cuba every passing second is extreme torture.”
Along with the text, the activist posted a nighttime photograph showing the pole with the transformer on fire: an electric arc of intense orange-yellow light illuminates the sky with reddish tones as the wires stretch across the darkness in multiple directions.
Damaged transformers are a severe problem amid the crisis facing the National Electric System, which has already experienced seven collapses in 2026. In Havana, an average of 25 transformers fail daily, with peaks of more than 60 in a single day, according to data from July 2026, caused by overloading when consumers reconnect equipment after prolonged blackouts.
The comments under Lafita's post reflect that the drama is repeating across the island. A Cuban reported from Santa Clara: "I am experiencing a power outage here too; I hope they can restore the service soon." Another recalled that the Berenguer neighborhood in the Boyeros municipality waited five days for a transformer to be connected. A third person summarized the collective exhaustion: "It's tremendous, it's the sword of Damocles that we all face; the transformer might blow, and the minimal issue is the little horse."
On August 4, 2026, Cuba reached another sad record in its energy crisis by recording a shortfall of 2,411 megawatts (MW) due to a generation capacity deficit.
Yamilka Lafita not only suffers from the energy crisis: she is also one of the activists harassed by the regime. She was detained on April 18, 2026 in Havana by State Security agents, hours after documenting the presence of two individuals watching her house. After her release, she reported that the regime was attempting to fabricate a crime against her.
In August 2025, she suffered a grade 2 sprain in her right foot after being violently arrested by the National Revolutionary Police. And in February of that same year, agents detained her while she was distributing food to homeless people, confiscating more than 200 thermal packages and 20 liters of gasoline, goods valued at 70,000 Cuban pesos — about 140 dollars.
Days before the incident with the transformer, Lafita had shared new photos of the girl Amanda Lemus Ortiz, the young Cuban who underwent a liver transplant in Spain, along with a message to the Ministry of Public Health: "Do you know that beauty waiting for the metro and playing in a ball pit? Share her so that the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba can see that she could indeed be saved." Cuba lacks an active pediatric liver transplant program; in June 2026, a ten-month-old baby who needed this procedure died without being able to receive it on the island.
While Lafita waited this Sunday without electricity and with a transformer burning in front of her house, another Cuban summed up the feelings of many in a comment on her post: "Every day I feel more eager to leave. There is no future."
Related videos:
Filed under: