The Electric Union of Cuba (UNE) published a warning on Facebook against the theft of dielectric oil from transformers: «It not only damages equipment, it harms lives».
His explanation lists concrete consequences: communities without electricity, medications without refrigeration, compromised medical equipment, and risks for children and the elderly.
The reasoning raises a question that the company does not address: if disabling a transformer endangers lives, what responsibility do those have who have allowed the deterioration of the National Electric System (SEN) that must supply the entire country?
The risks described by the UNE also exist when electricity is lacking due to scheduled outages, deferred maintenance, recurring breakdowns, insufficient generation capacity, and collapses of the SEN.
For a patient who requires medical equipment or needs to preserve medication, the institutional responsibility behind the blackout does not lessen its consequences.
A known deterioration and delayed repairs
The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant provides a documented example.
In May 2026, its director, Román Pérez Castañeda, acknowledged that the last major maintenance had been in 2010 and that it needed to be halted for at least 180 days to receive it. The promised intervention for the end of 2025 was postponed by Minister Vicente de la O Levy, citing a situational problem.
In June, Pérez Castañeda admitted that there were missing pieces even for a more extensive emergency repair. Workers were required to continue locating and selectively repairing the most threatened areas of the boiler.
The authorities were aware of the needs of an essential facility. However, the country reached a situation where it needs to shut it down for repairs and lacks sufficient capacity to replace its generation.
Projects to expand the system also remain pending. In September 2022, Deputy Minister Tatiana Amarán Bogachova explained that Cuba had not been able to activate the Russian credit of 1.2 billion euros for four blocks of 200 MW because it lacked the required advance payment.
Amarán Bogachova recognized that the government had prioritized other matters, but did not specify which ones.
Resources for other priorities
Official statistics allow for an examination of these decisions. In 2024, activities primarily associated with tourism accounted for 37.4% of the investment, according to Pedro Monreal's analysis of data from ONEI.
Business services, real estate activities, and rentals received 24.907 billion CUP; hotels and restaurants received an additional 11.9365 billion. Public health and social assistance only received 1.9774 billion. This concentration persisted with a hotel occupancy rate of 23%.
In the first half of 2025, the share of electricity, gas, and water in investment rose to 33.6%. This reorientation does not erase previous priorities or their accumulated consequences.
The electrical damage also extends to other services. The president of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, Antonio Rodríguez Rodríguez, acknowledged that 87% of the population served by the water system depends on SEN. He also admitted to the increase in leaks and the reduced allocation of fuel for their repair. The lack of electricity thus compromises water and hygiene.
Responsibility always seeks another home
The regime insists on blaming the crisis on the "blockade", while power companies highlight consumption habits.
In August 2025, the Electric Company of Las Tunas blamed the use of air conditioners and electric stoves for overloading transformers. In July 2026, the one in Holguín warned that connecting multiple devices simultaneously after a power outage could lead to another failure.
Technical recommendations may be necessary. However, imposing restrictions on users does not replace the obligation to maintain an infrastructure capable of meeting their needs. Additionally, reporting a theft does not account for decades of insufficient investments, postponed repairs, and inefficient management.
Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged in June 2025: «We have not been efficient in managing the few available resources». He also admitted to issues of corruption and administrative inefficiency.
The contrast also extends to personal consequences: a Cuban received 10 years in prison for stealing 40 liters of dielectric oil in Jovellanos, and four men were sentenced to between 15 and 20 years for stealing 140 liters and disrupting the Dairy Complex in Havana.
In light of these issues, no resignations or investigations have been made public to establish accountability among the top leaders for the accumulated deterioration of the SEN.
For those who damage a transformer, there are trials and exemplary sentences; for those who were supposed to prevent the collapse of the system, the admissions of inefficiency do not result in political consequences. The suffering of the population serves to justify the punishment of some, but not to hold those in power accountable.
The UNE concludes its post by urging that the benefit of a few thieves should not cause the suffering of many.
If the state company demands accountability for the damage caused by leaving a community without electricity, it must apply the same requirement to those who were responsible for protecting the supply for the entire country.
The hospitals, the children, and the elderly that the Electric Union invokes deserve for that responsibility to also be examined in the offices where resources are allocated.
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