Millions of Cubans Remain Without Power as Crisis Worsens

Summary:

Authorities made progress in restoring power before another collapse.
Internet traffic dropped significantly, according to NetBlocks.
Small protests broke out over power outages – Reuters witnesses.
Hurricane Oscar is approaching the eastern part of the island.

HAVANA, Cuba – Millions of Cubans awoke on Sunday to find their homes still without power after another partial grid failure overnight, deepening a crisis that has raised questions over the viability of the government’s efforts to reestablish electrical service.

Lazaro Guerra, the country’s top electricity official, confirmed a partial grid collapse late Saturday in the western provinces, including Havana. Technicians were working to fix the issue, Guerra said, but he did not provide an estimate for when power would be restored.

The capital, home to nearly two million people, remained almost entirely without electricity early Sunday. Many residents formed lines for subsidized rations, discussing the worsening situation as they waited outside.

A woman and a boy attempt to hitch a ride during a scheduled power outage in Bauta, Cuba, Monday. The island is facing an energy crisis, with waves of blackouts worsening in recent weeks.

State-run digital news outlet CubaDebate reported that the country’s largest power plant, Antonio Guiteras, was back online Sunday and would begin contributing to a restoration of service over the course of the day. However, the third grid failure on Saturday night marked a major setback in the government’s efforts to quickly restore power to exhausted residents already suffering from severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

Compounding the crisis, Hurricane Oscar was approaching northeastern Cuba early Sunday, threatening to further disrupt the government’s efforts. Cuba’s meteorological agency warned of “an extremely dangerous situation” in the eastern part of the country, which was largely without power or communication. By mid-morning Sunday, the storm’s winds had reached speeds of up to 100 miles per hour (161 kph).

Cuba’s national electrical grid first crashed around midday on Friday after the shutdown of the island’s largest power plant, plunging the country into chaos. The grid collapsed again on Saturday morning, state-run media reported.

By early evening on Saturday, authorities reported some progress in restoring power before announcing another partial grid collapse.

“The process of restoring the electrical system continues to be complex,” Cuba’s energy ministry said on X (formerly known as Twitter).

A woman prepares to catch a tossed frisbee during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana on Friday.

RISING TENSIONS

According to Reuters reporters, two small protests were held overnight after a grid failure left Havana in the dark late Saturday, one on the outskirts of the capital in Marianao and the other in the more central Cuatro Caminos. Various videos of protests elsewhere in the capital began to crop up on social media late on Saturday, though their authenticity has not been verified.

Internet traffic dropped off sharply in Cuba on Saturday, according to data from internet monitoring group NetBlocks, as vast power outages made it all but impossible for most island residents to charge phones and get online. “Network data show that Cuba remains largely offline as the island experiences a second nationwide power outage,” Netblocks said on Saturday.

Even before the grid failures, a dire electricity shortfall on Friday had forced Cuba’s Communist-run government to send non-essential state workers home and cancel school as it sought to conserve fuel.

Cubans play dominoes in the dark on the street during a blackout caused by a grid failure.

The government has attributed weeks of worsening blackouts—lasting 10 to 20 hours daily across much of the island—to deteriorating infrastructure, fuel shortages, and rising demand. Cuba also blames the U.S. trade embargo and sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump for the difficulty in obtaining fuel and spare parts needed to maintain and operate its oil-fired power plants.

The U.S. government has denied any involvement in the grid failures.

Cuba produces very little of its own crude oil, and fuel deliveries to the island have significantly decreased this year as former key suppliers, including Venezuela, Russia, and Mexico, have cut back their exports. Venezuela, a long-time ally, slashed by half its deliveries of subsidized fuel to Cuba this year, forcing the island to search for more costly oil on the spot market.