News summary produced by Claude AI
Cuba experienced a total power grid failure on Tuesday, affecting the entire nation and marking the third such collapse within a 10-day period. The outage occurred around 11am local time, according to the state-run electricity company UNE, and left roughly 10 million residents without electricity.
The repeated blackouts stem from Cuba’s severe economic crisis, intensified by a fuel blockade implemented by the Trump administration in January following the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power. Venezuela had previously supplied Cuba with subsidized oil, but under US pressure, Mexico also suspended fuel deliveries to the island. As of 2023, Cuba was producing only approximately 40 percent of the oil it consumed domestically, creating substantial dependency on imported fuel sources.
The blackouts have sparked growing discontent among the Cuban population. A week prior to this latest outage, scattered protests emerged in Havana, with residents banging pots and pans and demanding that authorities restore electricity. The two previous blackouts required more than 24 hours to resolve.
Cuban officials have faced mounting difficulties maintaining power supply due to fuel scarcity and an aging electricity infrastructure, with much of the system originating from the 1960s and 1980s. Havana attributes the crisis to the American fuel embargo, while Washington contends that Cuba’s government bears responsibility for the deteriorating power infrastructure. At a UN General Assembly debate on sanctions, US Ambassador Michael Waltz stated that Cuban leadership was accountable for the electricity shortages and urged the government to change course.