An individual from Cuba, identified as Luis A. García, made a poignant statement on the Facebook group Empresa Eléctrica Cuba UNE, encapsulating the dire situation on the island with biting irony: "Cuba, the first territory in the Americas devoid of food, water, electricity, freedom, happiness, and sanity. SOS Cuba."
The post was accompanied by a revealing image: an entirely empty refrigerator, yet with its interior light on, indicating that the electricity had just returned after a lengthy outage.
"After being without electricity for 68 hours, the service was finally restored, but only for an hour. Almost everything spoiled," García lamented, depicting a reality faced by countless Cuban households.
The post ignited a torrent of equally heart-wrenching accounts in the comments section.
Adelaida Garcia Amable replied: "You're lucky, we still don't have electricity, it's been over 100 hours."
Alberto Maldonado added his own experience: "What luck, today at 5 PM I reached 75 hours without power."
Meanwhile, Lily Cami was more blunt: "All my food went bad."
Similarly, Elizabeth Lugones expanded on the issue: "What we're experiencing is inhumane—scarcity, hunger, poverty, and corruption."
An anonymous commenter called for action: "Want to know how to keep your lights on? Take to the streets and demand what is rightfully yours."
The Underlying Crisis
The backdrop to these grievances is the most recent massive blackout in Cuba over the past 18 months: on July 6, at 12:17 PM, the National Electric System experienced its third complete shutdown of the year, affecting approximately 9.6 million people.
The immediate cause was the unexpected failure of Unit No. 6 at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant in Camagüey, leading to a cascading disconnection and a generation shortfall of 2,230 MW.
In Matanzas, power outages reached 87 consecutive hours; in Granma, 72 hours; and in Havana, the average was 15 hours daily without service, according to data from the electric collapse monitoring dossier.
On July 7, Cuba remained largely in the dark nearly 24 hours after the collapse, with only 30.4% of the service restored in the capital.
A Worsening Food Shortage
The electrical crisis exacerbates an already critical food shortage: according to the "In Cuba There is Hunger 2025" report, over 80% of Cuban households have lost refrigerated food due to power outages, and 48.3% reported direct food losses from lack of refrigeration.
The Minister of the Food Industry admitted that in 2026 they have been unable to deliver oil, chicken, or yogurt through the rationed basket, while up to 20,000 tons of food donated by the UN remain undistributed due to a lack of fuel.
Mental Health Toll
The damage extends beyond material losses. A study published in 2026 in Social Science & Medicine, based on 415 Cuban adults, found that 55.4% suffer from extremely severe depression, 66% experience severe anxiety, and 65.8% endure extreme stress.
Psychologist Roxanne Castellanos Cabrera warned on July 5 that "aggressiveness is becoming normalized in Cuba as a means of coping with life," comparing the island's social dynamics to the novel "Lord of the Flies," where humans revert to primitive behaviors under extreme conditions.
Understanding Cuba's Power and Food Crisis
What caused the recent power outage in Cuba?
The recent power outage was caused by the unexpected failure of Unit No. 6 at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant, leading to a cascading disconnection and a generation deficit of 2,230 MW.
How are the power outages affecting food availability in Cuba?
The power outages have exacerbated a critical food shortage, with over 80% of households losing refrigerated food, and 48.3% reporting direct food losses due to lack of refrigeration.
What is the impact of the crisis on mental health in Cuba?
The crisis has severely impacted mental health, with 55.4% of adults suffering from extremely severe depression, 66% experiencing severe anxiety, and 65.8% enduring extreme stress.