A major power outage struck the entire island of Cuba on Saturday, leaving millions without electricity. The blackout marked the second nationwide outage in less than a week.
The Cuba Energy Ministry said a “total disconnection” of the national electricity system took place at around 6.45 pm local time. The ministry shared the update on social media and said efforts had started to restore power across the island.
Earlier in the week, an island-wide blackout affected around 11 million people. The outage on Saturday is the fourth major blackout in the past four months.
Why Blackouts Happening So Frequently In Cuba?
Cuba faces a deep energy and economic crisis. The government has blamed the situation on a US energy blockade. US President Donald Trump had warned of tariffs on countries that supply oil to Cuba, which has affected fuel availability.
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The country depends heavily on oil imports from allies such as Mexico, Russia, and Venezuela. However, shipments from Venezuela stopped earlier this year after US action in the region and the arrest of Nicolás Maduro. This has worsened fuel shortages and reduced power generation.
Old infrastructure and lack of resources have also weakened the electricity system. Frequent failures at power plants have made the grid unstable, leading to repeated outages across the island, according to CBS report.
