Lights Out Across Cuba
Cuba's entire electrical grid went dark in what the Ministry of Energy and Mines described as a "complete disconnection" of the island's power system. Approximately 10 million of Cuba's 11 million residents lost electricity, marking the country's third major blackout in just four months.
By Monday night, repair crews had managed to restore power to only 5 percent of Havana, roughly 42,000 customers, along with several hospitals. Full restoration was expected to take days, with Electricity Director Lázaro Guerra warning that restoration "must be done gradually to avoid setbacks."
A Grid on Life Support
Cuba's electricity infrastructure has long been described as "way past its normal useful life." Aging thermoelectric plants, inadequate investment, and chronic fuel shortages have turned the island's power supply into a perpetual crisis. The system now limps along on a combination of solar, natural gas, and whatever thermoelectric capacity has not broken down.
One energy expert, William LeoGrande, put it plainly: "The technicians working on the grid are magicians to keep it running."
The US Energy Blockade
The immediate trigger for this latest collapse is a fuel supply crisis driven by US policy. In January 2026, President Trump issued a warning that any country selling or providing oil to Cuba would face tariffs, effectively cutting off the island's energy lifeline. Cuba had not received oil shipments in over three months at the time of the blackout.
Trump has also made no secret of his ambitions regarding Cuba, stating publicly that he believes he will have the "honour of taking" the island. The administration is actively pushing for the removal of President Miguel Díaz-Canel from power.
Human Cost
For ordinary Cubans, the blackouts are more than an inconvenience. They disrupt food refrigeration, water pumping, hospital operations, and the basic fabric of daily life. "Our people are too old to keep suffering," said Havana resident Tomás David Velázquez in remarks widely shared online.
Cuba is simultaneously dealing with food shortages, a collapsing peso, and a wave of emigration that has seen hundreds of thousands of Cubans leave in recent years. The blackout is one more blow to a population already stretched to its limits.
Source: CBC News
