A Cuban woman, Yaraidi Rodriguez, has taken to Facebook to express her deep frustration over the chaotic coordination of electricity and water supplies in Cuba. She describes the situation as a silent extermination of the populace.
"They turn on the water, cut the power. Turn on the power, no water. After enduring nearly 20-plus hours without electricity, they finally give us power at 10 at night," Yaraidi declares in her video, which has amassed nearly 27,000 views, over 1,300 likes, and 203 comments.
Yaraidi describes the exhausting struggle of managing a household without essential services: she's been sleeping on the floor for a week due to the heat, unable to rest because the water supply arrives at inconvenient hours, often in the middle of the night.
Addressing those responsible for water and electricity services, she questions, "Don't you have a mother, an aunt? Can't you see you're destroying Cuban women in masses?"
The most striking line of the video captures the accumulated desperation: "If we don't address this, they're going to wipe us out like the dinosaurs, dear."
Yaraidi mentions that thanks to a lithium battery with a converter, she can use a fan and pump some water. However, she warns that those living on higher floors—second or fifth—cannot access water without an electric pump, leaving them completely without during power outages.
Her demand is straightforward: "At 7 PM, let's have both water and electricity, so everyone can cook." She adds, "End these military-like marathons driving us crazy and get coordinated."
Yaraidi's outcry is not isolated. Throughout 2026, numerous Cuban women have voiced similar grievances on social media.
On July 30, Sisy Aguilera referred to it as "genocide;" Yai Savón reported four days without power and 15 without water in La Lisa, stating "they're killing us slowly;" Sady R. Companioni faced arrest threats after enduring 15 days without water or electricity while her six-year-old daughter suffered from a fever of 39.5°C.
The pattern Yaraidi describes has a structural explanation: 87% of Cuban water systems rely on electric pumps, meaning every blackout automatically halts the water supply.
This creates a vicious cycle that exhausts the population: when electricity returns, the pumps start, but water takes hours to arrive; when water is available, there may be no electricity to cook.
In Havana, those affected by water shortages increased from over 200,000 in April to more than 500,000 by July 2026. Nationally, the regime admitted that about 2.7 million Cubans lack regular access to potable water, and nearly 10 million receive it intermittently.
The electrical crisis fueling this water collapse hit one of its worst points this week: blackouts simultaneously affected up to 70% of the country during peak hours, with outages lasting up to 20 hours a day in the capital, while the power generation deficit exceeded 2,400 MW.
"We're left hoarse. We have to live in constant checkmate, like you, full-time," Yaraidi concludes, encapsulating the daily ordeal millions of Cubans face.
Key Issues in Cuba's Utility Crisis
Why are electricity and water supplies so poorly coordinated in Cuba?
The poor coordination is largely due to the reliance on electric pumps for water supply. When there is a power outage, water supply is automatically disrupted.
How does the utility crisis affect daily life for Cubans?
Cubans face severe hardships as they struggle to manage basic household tasks without consistent access to water and electricity, often leading to exhaustion and desperation.
What is the current scope of the water crisis in Havana?
As of July 2026, more than 500,000 people in Havana are affected by water shortages, a significant increase from April's figures.