Cuba receives solar energy support from Italian solidarity campaign

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel met with an Italian delegation in Havana to recognize the success of the ‘Energy for Life, Let’s Light Up Cuba’ campaign. The solidarity initiative, launched in mid-2024, raised between $400,000 and $426,700 through approximately 1,600 donations from individuals and various Italian organizations.

The funds are being used to install 391 photovoltaic solar panels at 11 key institutions, including healthcare centers, cultural facilities, and food production sites. The project primarily targets the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, and Granma, as well as Havana, to mitigate the island’s ongoing energy crisis. Beneficiaries include the Provincial Blood Bank, the Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology, and various agricultural and cultural centers.

The campaign was driven by a coalition of Italian civil society groups, including the Italian Cultural and Recreational Association (ARCI), the Italian National Confederation of Labor, the Italy-Cuba National Friendship Association, and the National Association of Partisans. The delegation, which includes members of the European Parliament and Italian parliamentarians, is scheduled to remain in Cuba until September 30 to visit social and economic facilities and deliver additional resources such as medicines and school supplies.