Cuba experienced an islandwide power blackout on Friday, marking the second such occurrence this week as the nation's power grid faces significant strain. The country, home to nearly 10 million people, is grappling with persistent fuel shortages, which have been intensified by U.S. energy policies.
While total blackouts have become more frequent in Cuba, consecutive nationwide outages occurring within days of each other are unusual. Cuba's Electric Union confirmed the latest incident via its X account. The cause of Friday's blackout is under investigation. A previous islandwide power outage on Monday also prompted an investigation, with officials not immediately clarifying its cause.
Fuel scarcity has been a pervasive issue in Cuba since January, exacerbated by threats of tariffs from the U.S. on entities providing oil to the island. This has deepened the country's ongoing economic and financial crisis, leading to disruptions in public transportation and the cancellation of tens of thousands of surgical procedures.
Cuba generates approximately 40% of its own fuel needs. Oil deliveries from sources like a Russian tanker in late March, which provided 730,000 barrels, were depleted by the end of April. The Cuban government has also been implementing rationing measures, including scheduled power outages that can extend beyond 24 consecutive hours.
This is not the first widespread power failure in recent months. A mid-May blackout affected the eastern provinces, and an islandwide outage occurred in mid-March.