Orlando Cruzata, creator and director of the Cuban music program Lucas, posted this morning on his Facebook profile an obituary dedicated to his Haier refrigerator —nicknamed "El Frío"— a victim of the Cuban electrical crisis.
Cruzata bid farewell to the appliance with a solemn tone and dark humor: “A sad and gray day. The best has fallen, the most capable, the one who silently faced every battle, every blackout [...]. The Haier has fallen, better known as the fridge.”
The discovery occurred on Saturday, after several days away from home due to work commitments: "Yesterday [...] we found the great Haier, the cold, already lifeless, without pulse... electric and foul-smelling. Despite the multiple maneuvers we performed for its resuscitation, it was impossible to bring this great Cid Campeador back to life. The Cold has died."
The refrigerator entered Cruzata's life around 2010, when he returned to the Havana neighborhood of La Querejeta. "For a modest price, someone in a hurry left it for us," he recalls. At first, the Haier was mocked by the other appliances in the home — the Samsung television, the Sony sound system, and even an old PC — but over time, it earned everyone's respect.
What Cruzata admires most about the deceased is his bravery in facing electrical fluctuations: he never wanted the protection of a voltage regulator. "He never wanted that help [...], the true Refrigerator faced the current and its attacks head-on." Thus, for approximately 16 years, the Haier survived blackouts and multiple collapses of the National Electric System.
Likewise, the hero team witnessed the demise of others: "Haier El Frío saw several of its fellow fighters perish. It witnessed the silent death of Samsung. It saw the last breath of the Old PC, when three brief power outages burnt it out. It has seen how several breakers have failed and fallen, scorched."
But the final blow came without warning. “The treacherous electrical situation in the country played a cruel trick on you. You didn’t see it coming; you froze instantly,” writes Cruzata. And there lies the true drama behind the humor: the refrigerator was the guardian of incredibly scarce proteins. “We, the starving, know well the pain that each unit that fails in battle brings. You, more than anyone, sheltered every little edible meat we could manage, because you knew that in every meat mixture, in pieces of meat, ribs, or any protein we could get our hands on, our lives depend on it.”
The obituary of the Haier depicts a daily tragedy that millions of Cubans know all too well. According to the 2025 Food Security Survey, more than 80% of households in provinces like Granma, Matanzas, Pinar del Río, and Sancti Spíritus reported damage to refrigerated food due to power outages.
This Sunday, the Electric Union anticipated a supply of only 970 MW against a demand of 2,800 MW, leading to a projected shortfall of 1,860 MW during peak hours.
It is not the first time that Cruzata has used his profile to denounce, with the same mix of anger and irony, the devastating effects of the energy crisis. Earlier this month, he denounced that Cubavisión postponed the Nominees Gala for the 2026 Lucas Awards, after he and his team had moved the edition and made great efforts to fulfill the broadcasting commitment due to the blackouts.
Cruzata closed his farewell with the simplicity of someone who has learned to laugh while crying: "Thank you for everything and for so much. Dear and esteemed Haier El Frío."
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