Cuba saw its second nationwide blackout in five days on Friday.
The island nation’s power grid has collapsed amid a six-month US fuel blockade and an already dilapidated energy infrastructure.
This is Cuba’s ninth nationwide power crisis since 2024, and the fourth in 2026.
State power company UNE said in a post on Twitter that “the national electricity system completely collapsed” at 4:30 pm local time (2030 UTC).
“Protocols are being activated to begin the recovery process,” Cuba’s energy ministry said on social media.
There was no immediate explanation from Cuban authorities for the blackout.
Officials blamed voltage instability and low levels of power generation for Monday’s outage. By late Tuesday night, most of the country was reconnected to the grid.
What is the cause of Cuba’s energy crisis?
Cuba was already struggling with power shortages when US President Donald Trump cut off the country’s oil supplies in January, after the US leader vowed to topple Cuba’s communist government.
The move came soon after the US kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and brought him to the United States, effectively appointing acting President Delsey Rodriguez in his place.
Venezuela was previously Cuba’s major oil supplier.
Only one oil tanker has stopped in Cuba since the US blockade began. The load of the Russian tanker would meet Cuba’s energy needs for only two weeks.
The oil blockade also comes amid a decades-long US economic embargo against Cuba.
Havana blames US sanctions for its poor infrastructure. Washington says this is due to state mismanagement of the Cuban economy.
According to estimates, Cuba requires more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day to meet its energy needs.
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Edited by: Shawn Sinico