Cuba's power grid collapses and plunges eastern provinces into a major blackout

"Cuba's national energy grid suffered a major failure early Thursday that severed power to the island's eastern provinces, authorities said, as residents in the capital Havana faced ongoing blackouts. The state-run Electric Union said the collapse had stripped power from all eastern provinces from Guantanamo to Ciego de Avila, and that crews were working to restore power, but it did not give an estimate for how long it would take."

"Power outages in Havana, where authorities have been rationing power, stretched to 24 consecutive hours on Thursday. On Wednesday evening, Associated Press journalists saw residents in numerous neighborhoods banging pots and pans and setting fire to trash cans to protest the blackouts. Hours later, Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy appeared on Cuban television to describe the energy situation as "critical.""

"Cuba produces barely 40% of the fuel it needs to power its economy. Russia announced plans to send a second fuel ship to Cuba in early April. According to Russian news reports, the oil tanker left the Russian Baltic port of Vysotsk in January, but has been stuck in the same place in the Atlantic Ocean for the last several weeks."

"Cuba's power grid is crumbling, but the government also has blamed the outages on U.S. sanctions after President Donald Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. The Trump administration has demanded that Cuba release political prisoners and move toward political and economic liberalization in return for a lifting of sanctions."

A major failure in Cuba’s national energy grid cut power to the island’s eastern provinces from Guantanamo to Ciego de Avila. Crews worked to restore service, but no timeline was provided. Havana experienced ongoing blackouts that reached 24 consecutive hours, with residents protesting by banging pots and pans and setting trash on fire. The energy situation was described as tense and later critical after oil supplies delivered by a Russian vessel in late March ran out. Cuba produces about 40% of the fuel it needs, and a second Russian fuel ship was planned for early April. The government also blamed outages on U.S. sanctions and tariff threats tied to political and economic liberalization demands.

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