Cuba’s Power Grid Collapses, Leaving Millions Without Electricity

Cuba's national power grid collapsed on Friday, plunging millions of people across the island into darkness. The Ministry of Energy and Mines confirmed the widespread outage on its official X account but did not specify a cause, stating only that officials had begun "activating service-restoration protocols."

This marks the latest in a series of power disruptions that have become increasingly frequent over the past two years. These blackouts are attributed to a severe economic crisis gripping the island, which has been exacerbated since January by U.S. energy sanctions. The restrictions reportedly hinder Cuba's ability to import necessary fuel for its thermoelectric power plants and to procure replacement parts for aging infrastructure.

Nationwide blackouts also occurred in early August, following similar incidents in July and March, alongside several regional outages. Even when the national grid is operational, Cubans often face extended power outages lasting over 30 consecutive hours.