Millions of people in Cuba were left without electricity on Friday after the country’s entire power grid suffered what the energy ministry described as a “total disconnection”. The outage was at least the sixth partial or nationwide blackout reported in Cuba this year.
The grid operator, Unión Eléctrica (UNE), said the failure began shortly before 14:00 local time, or 18:00 GMT. It attributed the disruption to a transmission fault combined with poor weather conditions in central Cuba. Felix Estrada, UNE’s national load dispatch director, said protocols for the gradual restoration of power had been activated, with the process continuing on Saturday.
By late Friday, electricity had returned to some priority locations in Havana, including areas near hospitals and water-pumping stations, UNE said. The source material did not give a timetable for full restoration. Residents described prolonged outages and repeated interruptions, with some reporting that electricity had returned briefly before failing again.
The latest blackout comes as Cuba faces chronic fuel shortages and an ageing electricity system. Cuba depends heavily on imported fuel, and the source reports that US sanctions and an oil blockade have intensified existing shortages. The energy crisis has also affected access to food and medicine, while hospitals, schools and government offices have struggled to operate normally.
Residents quoted by Reuters and AFP described shortages extending beyond electricity. Havana resident Frank Lorenzo said blackouts had become increasingly frequent, while schoolteacher Lidia Fernandez said the lack of water, cooking gas and power had become overwhelming. Francisco Rodriguez, 78, said his home had already been without electricity for 28 hours and feared the outage could last several days.
The repeated blackouts have prompted rare protests in Cuba, where unauthorised demonstrations are illegal and participants may face imprisonment. Havana blames its fuel crisis on US sanctions and an oil blockade, while Washington attributes the energy problems to poor internal management and has accused Cuba of posing a national security threat. The source also reports that Venezuela, previously a major supplier, had been providing roughly half of Cuba’s oil needs before its own supplies were cut off.