Cuba plunges into darkness as national electric grid collapses

Cuba’s state-owned grid operator, Union Electrica de Cuba, announced that the national electricity system collapsed late on Sunday night, leaving approximately 10 million residents without power.

The widespread outage marks the fourth major blackout to hit the country in recent weeks following three similar grid failures recorded throughout July. The worsening energy crisis is driven by severe fuel shortages, which have left the nation’s ageing power generation facilities unable to meet basic electrical demand.

Sanctions and geopolitical shifts have severely restricted the island’s ability to import crude oil.

Following the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, a US-imposed oil blockade cut off Cuba’s primary source of imported fuel, while alternative shipments from Mexico have also stopped under pressure from Washington.

To mitigate the escalating power supply emergency, the Cuban government has initiated unprecedented reforms by allowing private businesses and foreign-backed entities into its domestic wholesale fuel market.