Cuba hit by third nationwide blackout of the year as protests break out

Cubans in several parts of the island protested on Tuesday evening after a nationwide power cut left homes and streets in the dark. Residents banged pots and set rubbish on fire in some locations, while others shouted for the lights to be turned back on. The outage was the third nationwide blackout in Cuba this year and came on top of rolling electricity cuts already affecting the country.

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Officials said most of the country had had power restored by Tuesday, but some areas remained without electricity later in the day. Santiago de Cuba, the country's second-largest city, was among the places still affected. The state electricity company did not say what caused the latest unplanned incident, leaving the immediate trigger unclear.

The blackout added to a pattern of severe disruption that has become increasingly familiar for many households. The power cut comes against a backdrop of fuel shortages and long planned outages intended to conserve limited supplies. According to the supporting material, some rural areas have been left in darkness for up to 70 hours at a time, while urban areas have faced planned outages of up to 30 hours.

The shortages have been worsened by tight United States sanctions and what Cuban officials describe as an effective oil blockade, which has also limited the use of generators during blackouts. That has made the electricity crisis not only an infrastructure problem but also a wider social and political pressure point. President Miguel Díaz-Canel has acknowledged growing dissatisfaction among Cubans, saying there are shortages of transport, food and medicines, as well as lengthy power cuts lasting more than 20 hours.

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He said people were suffering and could not be happy under those conditions. At the same time, he urged Cubans to direct their anger towards the United States rather than his government, arguing that Washington was behind the power cuts. The comments underline how the blackout has become part of a broader dispute over responsibility for Cuba's economic hardship.

The latest unrest also highlights the sensitivity of public dissent in Cuba, where spontaneous protests can carry serious risks. The protests reported after the blackout were limited in the material provided, but they are notable because they emerged quickly in areas worst affected by the outage. The episode follows a year in which the island has already suffered repeated nationwide electricity failures, suggesting that the power system remains under severe strain.

It also shows how quickly energy disruptions can spill into visible public anger when shortages are already widespread. What remains unclear is the technical cause of the latest outage and how quickly full service can be restored across the island. It is also not clear whether the protests will spread beyond the areas already mentioned or prompt any new official response.

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