Celebration at Capri Hotel Sparks Outrage Amid Havana Blackout

While entire neighborhoods in Havana were plunged into darkness on Thursday night, a lively party with blaring music was underway at the Capri Hotel in the Vedado district. This stark contrast ignited a wave of outrage among residents and social media users. A video shared in the Facebook group "El Vedado de hoy" revealed that even after 11 p.m., the Capri Hotel's pool area was hosting a party with loud music, while the surrounding streets remained in total darkness due to power outages.

Residents complained that the noise was unbearable inside their homes, disrupting the peace of the elderly, children, and workers. "The right to rest should be sacred, and it's not fair that the enjoyment of 30 or 40 people causes distress to hundreds," said one resident. Many comments on social media highlighted the glaring inequality in these scenes: "Joy for a few—tourists or the privileged—and immense sadness for the most suffering," noted one user. Another summarized the sentiment succinctly: "I've never seen a government that shows such disdain for its own people."

The lack of empathy and the stark contrast between a city in darkness and a celebration at a luxury hotel have turned this episode into a symbol of the ongoing crisis: while the majority endure prolonged blackouts, a select few enjoy uninterrupted electricity and noise. Recently, the Ministry of Tourism issued a message to foreign visitors, aiming to convey "trust and security." In a Facebook post on September 10, the ministry assured that "most of our hotels and tourist services have generators and necessary resources to operate normally," ensuring that tourist facilities would not be affected by the blackout.

This disparity between the hardships faced by the population and the protection of the tourism sector highlights the government's priorities, which seem to focus more on maintaining the country's image abroad than addressing the basic needs of its citizens. Cubans continue to face food spoilage, interruptions of essential services, and growing uncertainty about the stability of the electrical system.

Despite the ongoing crisis and frequent power outages even affecting the capital, the regime's decision to prioritize tourism remains puzzling and indefensible, especially given the sector's struggles with a sharp decline in visitors, low hotel occupancy, and sustained revenue losses. This is not the first time the Cuban government has openly declared its preference for the tourism industry during an energy crisis, over the well-being of its own people.

In June, Cuba's Tourism Minister, Juan Carlos García Granda, publicly defended the protection of the hotel sector amid the island's energy crisis. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País, the minister stated that power cuts do not impact tourism because hotels have their own generators, funded by substantial state investment.

On Thursday night, October 2, protests erupted in Central Havana, where residents took to the streets banging pots and pans, chanting "Freedom!" and even setting fires. Several intersections were blocked in peaceful protests, involving even children. These incidents followed one of the most critical days for power supply, with outages lasting over 12 hours affecting much of the capital. In addition to the lack of electricity, the water crisis persists, with entire neighborhoods going over a month without service, forcing residents to pay exorbitant prices for private water deliveries.