Cuba hit by second island-wide blackout in less than a week

Cuba has suffered another nationwide power outage, its second in less than a week, after the state utility said the blackout began on Friday afternoon local time. The outage plunged the island into darkness shortly before evening and affected the entire country. Officials gave no immediate explanation for the failure.

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The state-owned Union Electrica de Cuba said the blackout started at 4:30pm local time, or 20:30 GMT. The latest outage follows a similar power failure on Monday, bringing the total number of island-wide blackouts reported this year to four. Two other total blackouts were recorded in March, according to the supplied report.

Power cuts are not unusual in Cuba, where much of the electricity system dates back to the Cold War era and the grid is described as ageing. The latest disruption comes as the island's energy system remains under severe strain. The report links that pressure to reduced foreign oil supplies, which have made it harder to keep generation stable.

The blackout also has wider significance because Cuba's electricity shortages have become part of a broader economic and political crisis. The island has long lived under a US trade embargo, and the report says the pressure on fuel supplies intensified after January, when President Donald Trump effectively cut off Cuba's access to foreign oil. That has left the government in Havana facing a more fragile energy balance at a time when demand remains high.

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The supplied report also says Cuba produced only 40% of the oil it used as of 2023, with the rest coming from overseas. It adds that only one Russian oil tanker reached Cuba in March, underscoring the country's dependence on imports. The article further notes that the island sits about 140 kilometres, or 90 miles, from the United States, and that the current crisis is unfolding against a long-running dispute between Havana and Washington.

What remains unclear is the cause of Friday's blackout and how quickly power will be restored across the island. The utility has not yet provided a technical explanation, and the supplied material does not say whether the outage is linked to a specific plant failure or fuel shortage. The key issue to watch is whether this becomes another prolonged disruption in a year already marked by repeated nationwide failures.

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