A Cuban mother posted this Thursday in the Facebook group Empresa Eléctrica de la Habana a testimony that starkly summarizes what thousands of families on the island are experiencing: electricity outages lasting around 36 consecutive hours, children suffering from the heat, and an official slogan — "resist" — which she counters as a direct reproach to the regime.
The author, identified as Marianela Chibas, described the situation of her two children: a five-year-old boy and a five-month-old baby. Along with the text, she attached images showing reddish rashes on the chest and back of the minors, consistent with heat rash, which particularly affects infants whose ability to regulate body temperature is still limited.
"My 5-year-old and my 5-month-old baby. How much longer? The blackouts are lasting around 36 hours... for just 3 hours of electricity with a tremendous on-and-off," the woman wrote in her post on September 3rd.
Chibas also pointed out that many Cubans have no options to alleviate the power outages: "Many of us don't have family members who send us EcoFlow or anything like that [...] and in the meantime, our children are suffering the consequences of a failed government."
The mother described the moment when she was writing: her baby was sleeping next to her with two fans turned on, taking advantage of the scarce hours of electricity available. It was then that she uttered the phrase that inverts the slogan the regime repeats as a command: “You endure with 3 hours of electricity every 36 or more hours of blackout, you endure with an empty stomach and a throat dry from thirst.”
The testimony is not an isolated case. Cuba is experiencing in 2026 a historically significant electrical crisis, with a National Electroenergetic System operating with an obsolete thermoelectric park, insufficient maintenance, and a chronic shortage of fuel.
This Friday, the Electric Union forecasted a maximum impact of 2,220 MW, which means that up to 68% of the island could be left without electricity simultaneously at peak demand, according to calculations by the EFE agency cited by Infobae.
Throughout 2026, the electrical system has experienced at least seven total collapses, with outages in some areas exceeding 72 consecutive hours and in other provinces reaching more than 80 hours. The country hit another peak in its energy crisis by recording a record impact of 2,411 megawatts (MW) on August 4.
The energy crisis exacerbates an equally severe food situation. According to the National Food Security Survey "In Cuba, There Is Hunger 2025" from the Food Monitor Program, 80.4% of the surveyed households reported that power outages affected their ability to cook, and 48.3% lost food due to lack of refrigeration. Furthermore, in 33.9% of households, at least one member went to bed hungry due to lack of food in the 30 days prior to the survey.
The case of Chibas adds to a series of complaints that Cuban mothers have shared on social media throughout the year. In July, a woman from Cerro recounted that she was sleeping on the rooftop with her daughter to endure the nights without ventilation. All these testimonies point to the same cause: decades of deterioration in energy infrastructure under a system that has been unable—and unwilling—to resolve it.
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