The system disconnected early this morning from Ciego de Ávila to Guantánamo, and the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant broke down again
14ymedio, Havana, May 14, 2026 – The night was turbulent in a Havana abandoned even by the breeze, and dawn does not look any better. Cuba’s Electric Union has announced the largest projected deficit in history for today, with 2,202 megawatts of outages expected during peak hours. For that time, and if nothing worsens, generation is estimated at 976 MW against a demand of 3,150.
The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant disconnected again due to a boiler leak, adding its shutdown to that of Felton and creating a perfect storm that only lacked one more aggravating factor: at 6:09 a.m., a partial collapse of the electrical system occurred from the province of Ciego de Ávila to Guantánamo, and recovery efforts are currently underway through isolated energy islands.
All of this comes after a night of widespread protests in the capital, during a month of May already registering high temperatures. In the newsroom of 14ymedio, despite being on the highest floor, the heat was already unbearable yesterday, and summer, which is expected to be intolerable, has not even arrived yet. Even so, in Nuevo Vedado the many pot-banging protests that multiplied throughout the city during a blackout lasting more than 20 consecutive hours were not heard.
The fuse had been lit in San Miguel del Padrón, where in broad daylight yesterday and after 24 continuous hours without electricity, residents took to the streets banging pots and pans, demanding “electricity” and “food” and calling for solutions that ultimately arrived almost simultaneously with arrests. But tensions began spreading from neighborhood to neighborhood.
Under cover of darkness, when identifying demonstrators becomes more difficult, the protests intensified. So much so that in the municipality of Playa, a police truck arrived at improvised barricades and bonfires, as shown in a video published by journalist Mario Pentón, to disperse the large group of people occupying the street.
In Diez de Octubre, several piles of garbage were also set on fire while horns blared and pots clanged. “My neighborhood, there’s no fear anymore. We want freedom, they won’t be able to stop an entire people,” wrote a resident in Santos Suárez, where the pot-banging protests were equally loud.
Cubans both inside and outside the Island proudly commented on the many videos circulating on social media when they recognized streets where they live or once lived. “My neighborhood heating up. Fire against the PNR [National Revolutionary Police],” urged a former resident of Lawton and Dolores in response to other images in which only the defiant noise and the powerful chiaroscuro of the bonfires amid another black night without power could barely be distinguished.
Chants and demands were also heard on San Lázaro, near the famous staircase of the University of Havana where, on a very distant day, Fidel Castro railed against Batista’s dictatorship. The same occurred in Guanabacoa, where it is difficult to find a place to charge a phone and even harder to charge a motorcycle in order to get around. “The 4G signal appears, but there is absolutely no connection,” one resident said.
The fact that Nuevo Vedado was calm last night does not mean its residents’ patience is immune to what is happening. On the contrary, the loud pot-banging protests heard Tuesday in the area around the Ministry of Transportation, even if they did not last very long, drew attention. The noise spread toward the area around the 14ymedio newsroom, surrounded by buildings where state officials reside, giving these protests added significance.
It is precisely the Ministry of Transportation that is one of the most effective blackout detectors in the area, since the noise from its generator begins instantly every time the electricity goes out.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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