Cuba suffers third nationwide blackout in less than 10 days as grid collapses again

Cuba's national power grid collapsed again on Tuesday, leaving about 10 million people without electricity in the island's third nationwide blackout in less than 10 days. The outage began around 11am local time, when the entire electrical system went offline, according to the state-run electricity company UNE. The Ministry of Energy and Mines said there had been a total disconnection of the electrical system.

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Officials said the latest failure affected the whole island and marked the fifth nationwide blackout in 2026. The repeated outages have become a major test for the country's power infrastructure, which has been under strain for months. In the two blackouts the previous week, it took more than 24 hours to restore power across the island.

The latest collapse came as residents again faced a prolonged interruption to daily life, communications and basic services. The blackout comes against the backdrop of Cuba's severe economic crisis and persistent fuel shortages. The island's ageing electricity system, much of it dating back to the 1960s and 1980s, has become increasingly vulnerable to collapse.

Cuba has also been producing only about 40% of the oil it consumes, according to the International Energy Agency's 2023 figures cited in the supporting material, leaving it heavily dependent on imported fuel. Those constraints have made it harder for authorities to stabilise generation and maintain the grid. The crisis has also taken on political significance.

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Havana blames the shortages on the United States' fuel blockade, while Washington says Cuba's government is responsible for the deterioration of the power system. The supporting material says the blockade was imposed in January and that Venezuela, once Cuba's main supplier of subsidised oil, has been cut off under US pressure. Mexico also halted fuel shipments, further tightening supply.

The dispute has become part of a wider confrontation over Cuba's economic direction and governance. Public frustration has been growing as the blackouts continue. Just a week ago, scattered protests broke out in Havana, where residents banged pots and pans and called for the lights to be turned back on during another prolonged outage.

The repeated failures have highlighted how closely the power crisis is tied to broader hardship on the island. They also underline the challenge facing Cuban authorities as they try to keep the grid operating with limited fuel and ageing equipment. It was not immediately clear how long the latest outage would last or when power would be fully restored.

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