The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, assured in an interview with PBS NewsHour that he and other government officials live with only about 2.5 to three hours of electricity per day, cannot refrigerate food, and sometimes lack potable water.
The interview — conducted by journalist Amna Nawaz from PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), the American public television network, and published this Wednesday — took place during the visit of the Deputy Foreign Minister to Washington for the UN General Assembly.
Nawaz confronted Fernández de Cossío regarding the accusations made by Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, during the General Assembly in July: that the Castro family owns a private jet and 17 homes, that President Miguel Díaz-Canel uses luxury items such as an Hermès tie, a Rolex watch, and a Montblanc pen, and that the military conglomerate GAESA manages a trust fund of $18 billion with no benefit to the population.
The deputy minister replied that the claims about the private plane and the 17 properties belonging to the Castro family are "completely" false, while also denying the existence of any privilege that separates the leaders from the reality experienced by the people.
This is not the first time Fernández de Cossío has resorted to this argument. In October 2025, he had already stated, in a interview about power outages, that in his home the outages occur “every four hours” and that he and his family feel “the urge to protest.”
Regarding the energy crisis, the official attributed the situation to Washington's pressure policy, describing it as a "collective punishment" and an "international crime."
"The United States' policy seeks to impose a collective punishment to induce a humanitarian crisis in Cuba," he stated, adding that the suffering of Cubans "is not a collateral damage; it is the objective of the policy."
Fernández de Cossío highlighted the human impact of the blackouts with examples: families with sick members who cannot be transported to the hospital, surgeries delayed due to lack of power, and newborns whose lives depend on machines that shut down. However, he overlooked the structural causes of the national energy collapse and the responsibility of the regime he represents in the crisis.
This Thursday, the electricity deficit in Cuba was around 2,120 MW against a projected demand of about 3,200 MW, with a mere availability of 1,020 MW. Throughout 2026, there have been blackouts lasting from 20 to 26 consecutive hours in Havana and over 40 hours in other provinces; furthermore, the National Electric Power System (SEN) has experienced at least seven total disconnections that have resulted in a nationwide blackout.
Regarding bilateral relations, Fernández de Cossío noted that Cuba maintains communication channels with the U.S. but that there has been no progress, as Washington announces new sanctions "practically every week or every 10 to 15 days."
He rejected the threats of a "takeover" of Cuba by President Donald Trump as unacceptable for a sovereign nation, although he admitted that ignoring them would be naive: "U.S. officials are constantly asked if that is on the table, and they respond that nothing is off the table."
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