Cuba hit by third nationwide blackout in less than 10 days
The state utility said the grid went offline Tuesday, leaving about 10 million people without electricity as fuel shortages strain the system.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
2 min read
Cuba’s national electricity grid failed again on Tuesday, cutting power across the island for the third time in less than 10 days. The outage left about 10 million people without electricity, according to Al Jazeera, AFP and Reuters, adding pressure to a country already facing its worst economic crisis in decades.
The state-run electricity company, UNE, said the grid went down at about 11 a.m. local time, or 15:00 GMT. Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines described the failure on social media as “a total disconnection of the electrical system.”
The collapse follows two other islandwide outages last week. Al Jazeera, AFP and Reuters reported that in both cases, authorities needed more than 24 hours to restore electricity across Cuba.
Cuban authorities have struggled for months to keep power running as fuel shortages and older power infrastructure have left the grid vulnerable. Al Jazeera, AFP and Reuters reported that much of the country’s electricity system dates from the 1960s and 1980s.
Fuel shortages deepen the crisis
The blackout comes amid a severe fuel crunch. According to the International Energy Agency, Cuba produced about 40 percent of the oil it consumed as of 2023, leaving the island dependent on imported fuel.
Al Jazeera, AFP and Reuters reported that the crisis has been worsened by a United States oil blockade imposed by President Donald Trump in January after the United States removed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power. Venezuela had long supplied Cuba with subsidised oil, and Mexico also stopped sending fuel to the island under U.S. pressure, according to the same reporting.
The Trump administration says its measures are meant to pressure Cuba’s communist government to hold democratic elections and free people it calls political prisoners. Havana blames the power crisis on the U.S. fuel blockade, while Washington says Cuba’s government is responsible for the decline of the electricity system.
At a United Nations General Assembly debate on U.S. sanctions last week, U.S. Ambassador Michael Waltz blamed Cuba’s leaders for the shortages. “Change your ways and turn the lights back on for your people,” he said.
Public anger grows after repeated outages
The repeated failures have raised frustration across the island. Al Jazeera, AFP and Reuters reported that scattered protests broke out in Havana last week during another prolonged outage, with residents banging pots and pans and calling for the lights to be restored.
Tuesday’s grid collapse again exposed the fragility of Cuba’s power system. The government has not said when service will be fully restored.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.