A poet residing in Camagüey interrupted his regular lyrical posts on social media to share a complaint about eight days without electricity affecting 32 homes in his neighborhood following the explosion of the transformer that supplies power to them.
Alejandro Muñoz Aguilera published the text on September 2 with the careful tone of someone who weighs each word. The account describes a series of negligence involving the local electric company, commonly known as "La Planta."
During their first visit, the technicians confirmed that the "caballito" —drop-out fuse or expulsion fuse— had tripped and attempted to replace it, at which point they discovered that the real issue was the faulty transformer. The response was brief: "We had to wait because there are no transformers, they are lost."
The poet acknowledges the shortage of supplies but rejects the idea that this excuses the authorities. "We need a short- or medium-term solution. It is the responsibility of the government of this province and the authorities subordinate to it, down to the lowest levels, to seek a solution to the extreme crisis," he wrote.
What happened during the second visit, now on the eighth day of darkness, was even more revealing. The technician did not bring a new transformer; instead, he reconnected the "little horse" to the equipment that was still malfunctioning. Muñoz Aguilera anticipated what was coming and pointed his phone's camera at the pole. When the power came back on, the transformer exploded again. He recorded everything. "It is foolish to do the same thing and expect different results. They knew it, we knew it; still, something was done to claim that action had been taken," he declared.
The complaint takes on a particularly painful dimension when describing those who suffer in that darkness. "And here we are, without 'caballito', without a transformer, without power and without hope, in a neighborhood where more than TWENTY (20) children live, (almost all girls), [...] children who do not sleep, children whom I personally hear crying every night, swimming in sweat and besieged by mosquitoes," she wrote. The neighborhood is also home to many elderly individuals, some with serious illnesses.
To talk about the corruption associated with circumstances like this, the poet employed a clever wordplay: "we're as fed up with that term as the ministers themselves"; and he expressed what he feels: "the indifference, neglect, and carelessness with which those of us at the bottom are treated hurts."
The case is not isolated in Camagüey. At the end of last month, the Camagüey writer María Antonia Borroto Trujillo reported 48 consecutive hours without electricity and the inability to file a formal complaint. Around the same time, neighbors in La Virginia, Najasa, reported blackouts lasting a week or more, with such unstable power that it damaged electrical equipment every time it was restored.
The problem has structural roots that the regime itself has acknowledged. The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted before the National Assembly in July that there are communities that have gone up to 105 consecutive days without electricity, attributing the situation to old voltage transformers that are impossible to replace.
Muñoz Aguilera concluded his publication with the voice of the poet who remains steadfast even when everything else is lacking: "I will continue writing my sad poems, hoping that the light will come with its different faces to illuminate my neighborhood and my country. Today it rains, the night is long, and the heat is fierce. I ask men to take on their responsibilities, to pay for their crimes, and I ask God to have mercy on us."
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