Dressed in an olive green military uniform, Miguel Díaz-Canel led the National Defense Day on Friday at the Casablanca Defense Council in the Havana municipality of Regla, and posted a video on his Facebook account where he stated that "preparation for defense remains a matter of great priority for Cuba."
It was the eleventh event of this kind that the leader personally directed this year, according to the Cuban Presidency, as part of the so-called "Year of Preparation for Defense 2026," which has mandated almost weekly military exercises under the doctrine of "People's War."
The publication immediately sparked a wave of critical and mocking comments that highlighted the same contradiction: while the Cuban population endures power outages of up to 20 hours a day, the regime mobilizes electricity, fuel, and air conditioning for its military events.
“There's electricity for this! With those fabrics and not a drop of sweat! Air conditioning, fuel to move people, anyway!” wrote user Gaby Mesa in Díaz-Canel's own post, in the comment that resonated the most among followers.
Another user, Ariel Morales, was more straightforward: "He goes out to tour the neighborhoods and visits the electricity dispatch office, which is nothing but a mafia. You call to complain, and they treat you like a dog. I know you won’t see this because it’s someone controlling your social media."
Irony also affected the armament. A user identified as Tom Sawyer commented, "They were surely counting the slingshots that each person would get." And someone identifying themselves as Chuly Blokeada added, "I don't plan on getting into any hole, but if I happen to have to take shelter in one, please God, don't let me end up with the leaders, because they take up all the space with their bellies."
The backdrop fueling this outrage is an unprecedented energy crisis. On the very Friday of the event in Regla, the National Electric System had only 1,000 MW of available generation against a demand of 3,250 MW, with a forecasted deficit of 2,190 MW, according to data from the Electric Union.
The situation is neither new nor isolated. The country began September with outages that simultaneously affected up to 70% of the island. On September 1, eleven of the sixteen thermoelectric units in the country were out of service due to breakdowns or maintenance, and the actual maximum impact reached 2,292 MW.
Cuba has experienced at least six total collapses of the electrical system during 2026, with power outages lasting more than two consecutive days in some provinces. The collapse on July 6 left approximately 9.6 million people without electricity.
This pattern of citizen reactions to military exercises has been repeated throughout the year. Since January, when the Western Army was subjected to mockery for its outdated equipment, up to the maneuvers in June and August, every official publication regarding defensive preparation has received comments highlighting the contrast between resource spending and the scarcity experienced by the population.
The Electric Union anticipated that maintenance and breakdowns at several thermoelectric plants would coincide between September and December, which would further worsen the outages in the remaining months of the year.
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