‘Absolute madness’: Cuba’s power grid collapses for second time in a week as Trump chokes oil supplies
The outage, triggered by the failure of a single power plant, cascaded across the country and much of the island was left without electricity, communication or clarity on when supply would be restored.
At 6.32pm on Saturday, Cuba went dark for the second time in a week, as its power grid collapsed under mounting pressure following US President Donald Trump’s grip choked oil supplies to the island.
The outage, triggered by the failure of a single power plant, cascaded across the country and much of the island was left without electricity, communication or clarity on when supply would be restored.
The blackout began when a major power plant in Nuevitas, in eastern Camaguey province, failed and went offline, grid operator UNE said. This disruption set off a cascade effect, knocking out electricity across the country.
The latest crisis comes after Trump moved to block oil flows from Venezuela, which had long supplied Cuba on favourable terms.
Since then, Washington has cut off Venezuelan exports to the island and warned of punitive tariffs on other countries supplying oil. Cuba has long blamed the US trade embargo for its economic and infrastructure challenges, including its ageing power grid, while Washington has attributed the shortfalls to the island’s state-controlled economic model.
In Havana, the outage disrupted people’s routines. Shortly after sunrise, residents gathered on doorsteps, speaking with neighbours, swatting mosquitoes and waiting out the blackout.
“Life doesn’t change. We’re stuck in the same rut,” said Leoni Alberto, who said he has had to cook with firewood at least twice a week due to the outages. “It’s absolute madness. There’s no other way around it,” Reuters reported him saying.
Cellular and internet services were almost entirely unavailable in most areas, leaving many without any form of communication.
By early Sunday, Cuba’s energy and mines ministry said it had activated “microsystems”, smaller, isolated circuits, across all provinces to restore power to critical services such as hospitals, water supply and food distribution.
The country’s two gas-fired plants operated by Energas were running in Varadero and Boca de Jaruco, and electricity had reached the nearby Santa Cruz oil-fired plant, the ministry said.
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said the effort was underway under “very complex circumstances”.
Saturday’s collapse marks the third major nationwide outage this month and the second in just a week, an energy crisis even by Cuba’s recent standards.
The grid has been unreliable for months, leaving residents without power for hours at a time even in relatively stable periods. But back-to-back nationwide failures are rare, pointing to mounting systemic stress, news agency Reuters reported.
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At 6.32pm on Saturday, Cuba went dark for the second time in a week, as its power grid collapsed under mounting pressure following US President Donald Trump’s grip choked oil supplies to the island.
The outage, triggered by the failure of a single power plant, cascaded across the country and much of the island was left without electricity, communication or clarity on when supply would be restored.
The blackout began when a major power plant in Nuevitas, in eastern Camaguey province, failed and went offline, grid operator UNE said. This disruption set off a cascade effect, knocking out electricity across the country.
The latest crisis comes after Trump moved to block oil flows from Venezuela, which had long supplied Cuba on favourable terms.
Since then, Washington has cut off Venezuelan exports to the island and warned of punitive tariffs on other countries supplying oil. Cuba has long blamed the US trade embargo for its economic and infrastructure challenges, including its ageing power grid, while Washington has attributed the shortfalls to the island’s state-controlled economic model.
In Havana, the outage disrupted people’s routines. Shortly after sunrise, residents gathered on doorsteps, speaking with neighbours, swatting mosquitoes and waiting out the blackout.
“Life doesn’t change. We’re stuck in the same rut,” said Leoni Alberto, who said he has had to cook with firewood at least twice a week due to the outages. “It’s absolute madness. There’s no other way around it,” Reuters reported him saying.
Cellular and internet services were almost entirely unavailable in most areas, leaving many without any form of communication.
By early Sunday, Cuba’s energy and mines ministry said it had activated “microsystems”, smaller, isolated circuits, across all provinces to restore power to critical services such as hospitals, water supply and food distribution.
The country’s two gas-fired plants operated by Energas were running in Varadero and Boca de Jaruco, and electricity had reached the nearby Santa Cruz oil-fired plant, the ministry said.
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said the effort was underway under “very complex circumstances”.
Saturday’s collapse marks the third major nationwide outage this month and the second in just a week, an energy crisis even by Cuba’s recent standards.
The grid has been unreliable for months, leaving residents without power for hours at a time even in relatively stable periods. But back-to-back nationwide failures are rare, pointing to mounting systemic stress, news agency Reuters reported.
