Cuba experiencing island-wide blackout amid energy crisis, officials say
FILE - View of a street at La Guinera neighborhood in Havana on March 13, 2026. (Photo by YAMIL LAGE / AFP via Getty Images)
An island-wide blackout in Cuba was reported by officials on Monday.
Local perspective:
The Ministry of Energy and Mines shared on X that there was a "complete disconnection" of the country’s electrical system. The issue is under investigation.
By the numbers:
About 11 million people live in Cuba.
Cuba’s energy crisis
The backstory:
On Friday, President Miguel Diaz-Canal said the island had not received any oil shipments in more than three months and the country was operating on solar power, natural gas and thermoelectric plants.
Surgeries have had to be postponed for tens of thousands of people.
A massive outage over a week ago affected the island’s west, leaving millions without power.
Critical oil shipments from Venezuela were halted after the U.S. attacked the South American country in early January and arrested its then-president, Nicolás Maduro.
Despite Cuba producing 40% of its own oil, the power it generates is still not enough to meet the demand of its electric grid.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press.