A Cuban content creator known on Instagram as LA_OSVI D'CUBA went viral with a reel in which he "shows" how to keep the refrigerator frozen with only two hours of electricity a day — the time that some neighborhoods on the island receive power, when they do receive it.
The initial warning — "Don't pay attention to the drizzling" — refers to the wetness of the appliance, which is very common in this brand Haier that was distributed in Cuba during the Energy Revolution, and that never stopped dripping water even in times of abundant electricity.
When he begins to list the steps to keep the frozen cold with just that amount of power, he stops at the first step and says bluntly, "Gentlemen, I can't believe there are still people waiting for the end of the video."
In the midst of his sarcasm, the author opens the refrigerator, calls it a "relic" and "decoration," and concludes with a phrase that encapsulates the daily frustration of millions of Cubans: "This is a relic, you know this is just decoration, it doesn't work." The truth is, this fridge no longer cools anything, and according to its owner, all that is left to do is "drink hot water and go on a diet."
The tone is one of dark humor, but the backdrop is an unprecedented electrical crisis. Power outages have reached extreme durations. Some circuits in Havana experienced over 52 consecutive hours without electricity at the beginning of November. In the Playa municipality, power cuts exceeded 20 hours a day during the weekend. In Santiago de Cuba, residents reported nearly 24 consecutive hours without power on Friday, and the electric company itself acknowledged that it could not even guarantee "one or two hours of electricity daily" to some neighborhoods in that city.
In this context, the empty or defrosted refrigerator has become one of the most recurring symbols of Cuban humor on social media. On Saturday, actor Mario Sardiñas —known as "Chequera" in Vivir del Cuento— satirized power outages as the "quitaypón virus". On Sunday, an elderly woman named Lina Hernández published a parody of the Literacy Anthem with the lyrics "Cuba: hunger, misery, blackout", which surpassed 360,000 views.
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