The Cuban comedian Otto Ortiz reported this Monday on the critical situation faced by residents of a 12-story building in Nuevo Vedado, Havana, where an electrical failure has left some apartments without power, elevator, and water supply for extended periods.
In a Facebook post, Ortiz explained that it pertains to what is known as the “12 Sugar Plants,” located at Tulipán and 45, which has been affected for several days by the loss of one electrical phase.
The situation causes that, even when electricity returns after extensive outages, some apartments still remain without service.
“Imagine [...] being more than 20 hours without power and then suddenly it comes back, but not to your apartment due to a phase outage. Your apartment will be without power for another 20 hours or more because for it, it wouldn’t be 20, it would be 40, 60,” he wrote.
The absence of electricity also has a cascading effect within the building: the elevators stop working and water is also not available, forcing residents to carry buckets up the stairs and similarly take their waste down.
“Living in a 12-story building, especially for those on the 6th floor and above, has become an agonizing ordeal, a torment, a cruel and undeserved punishment,” lamented the comedian.
Ortiz, who began his message by stating that he usually tries to approach issues with humor, acknowledged that this time he could not find a way to turn the situation into a joke.
The artist then directed his criticism towards the Electric Company and local authorities, questioning how a situation that affects so many families can continue without a definitive solution.
"One thing is the blockade, but another is the disinterest and negligence towards the people," he stated.
He also questioned the role of public officials and the district delegate. In his opinion, those in these positions have the primary responsibility of addressing and resolving the community's issues.
"The reality is that there is no one doing anything for others, a building without light, without water, without elevators; hundreds of families, thousands of people, all trapped and without escape," he wrote.
Ortiz recalled that among the residents there are children, elderly individuals, and people with physical and motor limitations, for whom climbing numerous flights of stairs or carrying water presents an even greater challenge.
According to the account, the problem is not new either. It was asserted that the breakdowns have become recurrent and that, even after replacing the transformer, the cycle keeps repeating.
"And the worst part is that this has become a constant; they replace the transformer, and within a few days, it explodes again, and the cycle of collective misfortune starts anew," he pointed out.
This time, however, Ortiz concluded his complaint without any jokes and with a particularly pessimistic reflection on the daily reality of the island: "Before, years ago, people thought about tomorrow; now... now it's better not to think."
Although the renowned comedian typically uses his social media to make people laugh, he has also transformed it into a space to highlight the challenges of everyday life in Cuba.
In July of this year, he joked after his area received only 45 minutes of electricity following a prolonged blackout, concluding his criticism with the slogan: "Everything we are, we owe to socialism."
Months earlier, he had turned to humor to denounce the endless waiting lists to buy gasoline in Havana. Ortiz then revealed that he was in 1,620th place in a line for pesos and 15,551st in another to purchase fuel in dollars.
More recently, in August, he once again used satire to draw attention to the high price of oil in Cuba, appearing with a bottle hanging around his neck as if it were a piece of jewelry meant to display wealth.
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