A mother from Las Tunas shared a video on the page of Facebook "Revolico Las Tunas" that highlights the daily struggles of blackouts in Cuba: her son, a minor, sleeps on the rooftop in front of the neighbors' houses, with a portable fan as his only source of comfort.
The text accompanying the image leaves no room for doubt: "When I was supposed to rest, they turned off the light."
The scene shows the boy lying on the floor on a mattress barely covered by a sheet, unable to rest inside the home due to the unbearable heat during a power outage.
"Today, when my little one should have rested all night in his bed to start the new school year, look at how he spent the night: outdoors, lying on the floor, and the fan without charge, because there wasn't even time to charge it," reported Ybeht Leyva.
"It's terrible, the heat and the mosquitoes. My God, how long are they going to torture us? Now, if I don't take the child to school, am I a bad mother? When I haven't even been able to make his milk because I don't have electricity," she emphasized.
Cuba started September with an electricity deficit of 2,310 MW, with 11 of the country's 16 thermoelectric units out of service due to breakdowns or maintenance.
On September first, the day the school year began, another Cuban mother sent a powerful message stating that she will not send her children to school while the blackouts prevent them from sleeping and resting.
"When Cubans learn to say enough, then there will be a change in this country," stated Marianela Hernández from Havana.
More and more mothers are reporting on social media about their children's situation, enduring electricity outages lasting over 20 hours.
In July, a Cuban woman captured four children sleeping on the floor of a doorway right at the corner of Prado and Virtudes, in the heart of Havana, while the city remained without electricity.
"This is a shame, this is an embarrassment. Look at the children sleeping on the floor," said the author while recording the scene, with the sound of car horns in the background.
"We have been sleeping on the rooftop for a week", reported a resident of Cerro municipality, Havana, while describing the inhumane conditions her family was living in after more than a week of continuous blackouts: without potable water and her daughter covered in mosquito bites from sleeping outdoors.
In August, another Cuban exploded on social media after 24 consecutive hours without electricity, while the highest deficit recorded that month reached 2,340 MW.
Las Tunas has also suffered additional blows to its electrical infrastructure. In June, more than 100 families in the municipality of Puerto Padre were left without electricity and water for 13 consecutive days after a transformer exploded.
In April, the theft of 600 liters of dielectric oil left 40% of the customers in the municipality of Amancio without electricity, affecting nearly 5,000 people, a polyclinic, and a water pumping station.
The nighttime movement of families to doorways, rooftops, patios, and streets has become one of the most striking symbols of the Cuban energy crisis.
Cuba has experienced seven total collapses of the National Electroenergetic System so far this year, with nationwide blackouts that left more than nine million people without power at the same time.
Filed under: