HAVANA (AP) - Cuba's national energy grid experienced a significant failure early Thursday, leading to power outages across the island's eastern provinces. This comes amid ongoing blackouts in the capital city of Havana, where residents have been living under severe energy shortages.
The state-run Electric Union reported that the failure stripped power from all eastern provinces, extending from Guantánamo to Ciego de Ávila. Although crews are currently working to restore power, no timeline has been provided for when electricity will be fully restored. The crisis in Cuba's power grid has deepened in recent years due to a prolonged economic downturn, which has been further aggravated by a U.S. energy blockade impacting the daily lives of the country's 10 million inhabitants.
On the eve of the outage, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel characterized the energy situation as "tense," pointing out that supplies of oil delivered by a Russian ship in late March had been depleted. Cuba can only produce around 40% of the fuel necessary to meet its energy needs, leading to an increasing dependency on foreign oil supplies.
In response to the crisis, Russia announced intentions to send a second fuel shipment to Cuba in early April. Reports indicate that the oil tanker, which departed from the Russian Baltic port of Vysotsk in January, has been stranded in the Atlantic Ocean for several weeks, contributing to the continued energy shortages.
In Havana, power rationing has resulted in outages lasting up to 24 consecutive hours as of Thursday. In reaction to these extensive blackouts, residents in several neighborhoods were seen banging pots and pans and even setting fire to trash cans in protest. Following the demonstrations, Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy addressed the nation via television, declaring the energy situation to be "critical."
The Cubans have expressed their frustration over the worsening power outages, which have caused significant disruptions including reduced work hours, food spoilage, and in some cases, the cancellation of surgeries in hospitals. The government has attempted to assign blame for the outages on U.S. sanctions. After President Donald Trump warned in January about the imposition of tariffs on countries selling or providing oil to Cuba, the island's energy crisis has intensified. The Trump administration has insisted on political reforms in Cuba in exchange for lifting these sanctions.
As the humanitarian impact of the crisis escalates, people continue to confront daily challenges exacerbated by the country's deteriorating power infrastructure. The situation remains fluid, as efforts to stabilize the energy grid and restore electricity to the affected areas are ongoing.
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Reported by Andrea Rodríguez, The Associated Press.
