Cuba's Power Grid Collapses Again, Leaving Millions Without Electricity

Havana: Cuba's national power grid failed once again on Friday, plunging millions of people across the island into darkness for at least the sixth time since the United States cut off fuel shipments to the country in January. The Ministry of Energy and Mines confirmed the islandwide outage on social media and said restoration protocols were underway.

Authorities said the collapse began with a failure in transmission lines in the western region, which spread the outage as far as Matanzas province before the eastern part of the island was also disconnected to protect the system. State media attributed part of the breakdown to unstable weather conditions.

By evening, only about 5 percent of Havana's roughly 862,000 customers had power restored. Temporary "micro-grids" were being set up in Camaguey, Pinar del Rio and Granma provinces, while hospitals and other critical facilities were prioritised for reconnection.

Nationwide blackouts have grown increasingly frequent amid Cuba's deepening economic crisis, worsening sharply since Washington imposed an energy blockade in January intended to pressure political change on the island. The restrictions have choked off the fuel needed to run Cuba's thermoelectric plants and blocked spare parts for its ageing infrastructure; only one fuel shipment, delivered by a Russian tanker in March, has reached the island since. Even during normal operation, outages lasting more than 30 hours are common.

Residents described mounting hardship from the crisis, citing shortages of food and water alongside the constant loss of power, transportation disruptions, reduced working hours, and serious effects on public health and daily life.