Residents of Baire, in the province of Santiago de Cubamarched on Thursday night through the streets of that town in protest due to the continuous and prolonged blackouts, as seen in several videos broadcast through social networks.
Several users reflected the discomfort generated by the energy crisis in the town belonging to the Contramaestre municipality, a situation that is combined with difficult access to food and medicine.
In the videos, many recorded by participants in the protest, you can see the march of the residents while they demand the restoration of electricity service along with the sound of banging pots and pans.
THE LATEST: Baire is on the street right now protesting against the Cuban regime pic.twitter.com/rBdbvEm6T6
— Javi (@JaviXCubaLibre) October 17, 2025
You can also hear shouts of “We are not afraid”, “Freedom” and “We want food”, while others highlight the deployment of a strong police operation, with no altercations or arrests reported so far.
“People came out tired, with their cauldrons, shouting. They arrived at the park, where the police and State Security were already there with motorcycles and the fire truck,” a Facebook profile says.
So far, the territorial authorities have not commented on the incident, nor have any references appeared in the official media.
The energy deficit does not decrease
The protests in Baire highlight the impact of the critical situation of the National Electroenergy System (SEN) on the population that suffers from constant supply cuts, often for prolonged periods of time.
The constant breakdowns of the thermoelectric plants, together with the lack of fuel and lubricants, keep the system in check, which has suffered up to five total disconnections so far this year.
Despite the relief represented by the installation of solar parks throughout the territory, and which according to the authorities already represent 9% of the country’s energy mix, the generation deficit has remained above 1,300 megawatts (Mw), exceeding 2,000 on repeated occasions.
This Thursday, the Electrical Union (UNE) confirmed that the effects on peak demand hours were calculated at 1,384 MW, and predicts that this Friday, in the same period, it will not be able to serve 1,367 MW of the 3,300 that are needed to meet the demand of the entire country.
In its most recent part, the UNE states that three thermal units and two due to maintenance remain out of service due to breakdowns, which subtracts 452 MW from the generation capacity.
While thermoelectric plants collapse, photovoltaic energy already covers 9% of Cuba’s energy mix
50 distributed generation units are also stopped due to lack of fuel, which makes the generation of 304 MW impossible, to which are added 197 MW that cannot be served due to lack of lubricants, for a total of 501 MW.
Due to this situation, blackouts will continue in a good part of the country, especially at night, which implies the risk that protests will continue to occur, such as those that have been happening in several locations.
