Cuba hit by second nationwide blackout in a week

2026-03-22 - 02:21

Buildings began to lose power in Havana before nightfall. (AFP pic) HAVANA: A power outage struck the entire island of Cuba on Saturday, the energy ministry said, in the second nationwide blackout in less than a week as its grid struggles under a US oil blockade. Buildings began to lose power in Havana before nightfall, shortly before 10.30pm and just five days after the previous one plunged the country into darkness. A “total disconnection” of the national electricity system took place, the energy ministry said in a post on X, adding that work had begun to restore power. The blackout occurred as an international aid convoy began to arrive in Havana this week, bringing sorely-needed medical supplies, food, water and solar panels to the island. Cuba’s ageing electricity generation system is in shambles, with daily power outages of up to 20 hours the norm in parts of the island, which lacks the fuel needed to generate power. However, since the Jan 3 US ouster of communist-led Cuba’s top ally, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, the island’s economy has been hammered further as president Donald Trump maintains a de facto oil blockade. No oil has been imported to the island since Jan 9, hitting the power sector while also forcing airlines to curtail flights to the island, a blow to the all-important tourism sector. ‘Honor of taking Cuba’ The crisis in the country of 9.6 million people comes as Trump has made no secret of his desire to see regime change in Havana. “I do believe I’ll be...having the honor of taking Cuba,” he said. “Whether I free it, take it — think I could do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth. They’re a very weakened nation right now,” he said. The next day, Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel warned that “any external aggressor will encounter an unbreakable resistance”. Tanieris Dieguez, Cuba’s deputy chief of mission in Washington, told AFP earlier this week that Havana was open to broad talks with Washington and allowing more investment. However, she said Cuba’s political system would “never” be part of the negotiations. The outages as well as regular shortages of food, medicine and other basics are spurring frustrations, with demonstrators vandalising a provincial office of the Cuban Communist Party last weekend. With Cuba in desperate need of fuel, maritime trackers reported this week that two tankers carrying Russian oil and diesel appeared to be on their way to the island, but their status remains unclear.