Cuba hit by third nationwide blackout this year
State utility officials said the cause was under investigation as Cuba tried to restore power and protect hospitals and food production sites.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Cuba lost power nationwide on Monday for the third time since the start of the year, deepening an energy crisis that has already forced long scheduled outages across the island. The state-run Electric Union said the cause of the latest grid failure was under investigation.
The blackout affected a country of about 9.6 million people, according to reporting by AP and Reuters. It was the eighth islandwide outage since late 2024, Al Jazeera reported, citing the state of Cuba’s fuel supply and its aging electric grid.
Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy said crews activated restoration protocols soon after the outage. He said essential services were being protected while Cuba dealt with what he described as an energy blockade.
Grid operator UNE said it was sending power to some essential users, including hospitals and food production centers. By late afternoon, the operator said it could meet only 1 percent of electricity demand in Havana.
Fuel shortages compound grid failures
Cuba had been struggling with fuel supplies before U.S. President Donald Trump cut off oil deliveries from Venezuela to the island in January, according to Al Jazeera. The outlet reported that Trump also threatened tariffs on countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba, worsening the island’s financial crisis and speeding up blackouts and power cuts.
Al Jazeera reported that Washington has allowed only one oil tanker, from Russia, to pass its blockade and dock in Cuba since January. The outlet described the restrictions as part of a sanctions campaign aimed at ending communist rule in Havana.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the United States of trying to “incite social unrest by strangling Cuba’s fuel supply.” In a social media post, he praised electrical workers operating during what he called a “genocidal energy blockade.”
Trump has pointed to the January U.S. abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his replacement with a successor who could be pressured to work with Washington as a possible model for Cuba, Al Jazeera reported.
Residents face long outages
The nationwide failure came as Cuban authorities were already imposing extended power cuts to conserve fuel, according to Al Jazeera. The cuts have lasted more than 30 straight hours in parts of Havana and more than 70 hours in some rural areas.
Meyboll Font, a 51-year-old self-employed social media community manager in Havana, told AFP that the situation had become unbearable. “Living like this is agony,” she said.
Font told AFP that her neighborhood had been getting only “three or four hours of power a day.” She said the nationwide blackout felt worse because residents did not know when electricity would return.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.