Cuban actor Rigoberto Ferrera recently delivered a scathing critique of the government following its latest official proposal to alleviate the electricity crisis: generating power from biomass.
In a video shared on his Instagram account, Ferrera expressed sarcasm and frustration at the notion of producing electricity from organic waste, linking it directly to the regime's rhetoric.
"The useful energy produced from biomass combustion is the new solution for Cuba's energy crisis," he stated with biting irony.
"Do you know what biomass is? Animal excrement. With the amount of crap spoken in that speech, Cuba could have had power for 10 years. They don't know how to utilize resources," Ferrera remarked sharply.
The post sparked a wave of reactions and comments. Among them was singer Leoni Torres, who quipped: "With all the crap they talked, they could power the entire country for 10 years."
Ferrera's words resonated with a widespread sentiment among the population: outrage toward a regime that, amid endless blackouts, offers solutions that seem more like propaganda than real answers.
The economic crisis has impacted every facet of daily life—food, transportation, basic services—and electricity has transformed into an intermittent luxury.
Rather than taking responsibility and providing concrete solutions, the government persists in narratives that appear increasingly detached from the reality experienced by Cubans.
The Actor's Response to the Leader's Empty Rhetoric
The actor's reaction comes after leader Miguel Díaz-Canel publicly suggested the idea of producing energy from "residuals" turned into biogas, as part of a supposed strategy to achieve energy sovereignty.
In a conference with official media journalists and platform-aligned correspondents, Díaz-Canel defended that Cuba can generate electricity using biomass—organic waste transformed into biogas for cooking, lighting homes, and even powering electric generators.
"Biogas, transforming residuals into energy," the leader explained, asserting that biogas plants could create "gas generators" capable of producing electricity.
The announcement comes amid a severe electricity crisis.
Díaz-Canel himself admitted that the country has been unable to use a significant portion of its distributed generation for weeks due to a lack of fuel. He noted that over 1,300 megawatts are installed in that system but remain idle due to the absence of diesel and fuel.
He also acknowledged that the deficit during peak hours has fluctuated between 1,600 and 2,000 megawatts, resulting in widespread and prolonged blackouts nationwide.
The leader again blamed external pressures and sanctions for the fuel shortage, prioritizing supply to productive sectors during the day at the expense of increased household outages, even in Havana.
The biogas proposal was presented as an "opportunity" to reduce energy dependence. It arrives at a time when Cuban cities are overwhelmed with trash, communal services are collapsing, and waste accumulation has become a visible health issue.
In this context, the idea of generating "light from waste" has been viewed by many as another discourse disconnected from the real urgency: people need electricity now, not futuristic promises while trash piles up and blackouts continue to dictate daily life.
Ferrera's bitter mockery targets not just a statement but a system that, with its inefficiency and lack of practical solutions, has brought Cuba to a breaking point.
In a country where the economic crisis permeates everything, electricity is no longer just a service; it symbolizes collapse.
Understanding Cuba's Energy Crisis and Biomass Proposal
What is the Cuban government's proposal for using biomass?
The Cuban government proposed generating electricity from biomass, which involves converting organic waste into biogas to power homes, cook, and run generators.
Why did Rigoberto Ferrera criticize the biomass proposal?
Ferrera mocked the proposal as unrealistic and ineffective, arguing that it reflects the regime's detachment from the urgent needs of the Cuban people who are facing constant power outages.
How has the energy crisis affected daily life in Cuba?
The energy crisis has severely impacted all aspects of daily life in Cuba, making electricity a scarce and intermittent resource, thus affecting basic services, food supply, and transportation.