Cuba hit with another blackout as millions across the island are left without electricity

Cuba’s power grid collapsed once again on Friday, leaving millions of people across the island without electricity for at least the sixth time since President Donald Trump cut off fuel to the island in January.The Ministry of Energy and Mines announced the islandwide power outage on its official X account and added that officials had begun “activating service-restoration protocols.”“No one can stand these constant blackouts.There isn’t enough food, there’s no water, there’s no electricity — you have no idea,” Mercedes Rodriguez, a 60-year-old worker in Havana, told The Associated Press as she waited for public transportation to return home.

“The country is in such a sad state, and there are no words for what we’re going through.”According to Cuban authorities, a failure reportedly occurred in transmission lines in the western part of the country, causing the system to collapse in that area — as far as Matanzas province — and the eastern section of the island was subsequently disconnected.The official newspaper Granma reported that “unstable” weather conditions further aggravated the grid’s situation.By dusk, power had been restored to 5% of users in Havana, which has a total of about 862,000 customers, according to official data.Small power-distribution “micro-islands” were being established in the provinces of Camagüey, Pinar del Río and Granma.

Some systems serving hospitals and other emergency facilities were being reactivated.Power grid collapses have become increasingly common over the past two years because of the severe economic crisis gripping the island.They have worsened since January, after the United States imposed an energy blockade aimed at forcing a change in Cuba’s political system.The restrictions prevent Cuba from importing the fuel needed to operate its thermoelectric power plants, as well as replacement parts required to maintain infrastructure that in many cases has become obsolete.Just one tanker of ...