Cuba has been shrouded in darkness for a second day as a nationwide power outage continues to grip the island. The blackout, which began on Friday, has brought daily life to a standstill, leaving residents frustrated and struggling to cope. The situation has highlighted the dire state of Cuba’s electricity infrastructure and the ongoing economic crisis that has plagued the nation for years.
At dawn on Saturday, most neighborhoods in Havana remained dark, except for hotels and hospitals equipped with emergency generators. The capital city came to a virtual standstill on Friday, with schools closing, public transportation grinding to a halt, and traffic lights failing to function. The power grid collapsed in a chain reaction after the Antonio Guiteras power plant, the largest of Cuba’s eight aging coal-fired power plants, unexpectedly shut down.
The national electric utility, UNE, reported that it had managed to generate a minimal amount of power on Friday night to restart some plants and begin restoring electricity. However, at 6:15 a.m. on Saturday, “a new, total disconnection of the electrical grid occurred,” according to the official news outlet Cubadebate.
The blackout has brought immense hardship to Cubans, who are already facing a range of economic challenges. “Everything is very difficult. For almost a day we have had this blackout that makes life so hard for us,” said Yaima Vallares, a 28-year-old dancer. “I am trying to remain calm because there is too much stress over everything in this country.”
Isabel Rodriguez, a 72-year-old resident, described the situation as a common occurrence. “Believe me, it is hard to live like this,” she said, highlighting the frequent power outages and water shortages that plague the island.
The current blackout follows weeks of sporadic power outages, some lasting up to 20 hours a day in certain provinces. This prompted Prime Minister Manuel Marrero to declare an “energy emergency” on Thursday, suspending all nonessential public services to prioritize electricity supply to homes. Schools across the country have been closed until Monday.
The government has assured that hospitals and other essential facilities, equipped with generators, will remain operational. However, the widespread blackout has exposed the fragility of Cuba’s power infrastructure, raising concerns about the country’s ability to provide reliable electricity to its citizens.
The blackout has also fueled frustration and anger among Cubans, who are facing a deep economic crisis. President Miguel Diaz-Canel, in a statement on Friday, blamed the situation on difficulties in acquiring fuel for power plants, citing the tightening of the decades-long US trade embargo under the Trump administration.
“They’ve messed up,” said Eloy Fon, an 80-year-old retiree. “It shows the fragility of our electricity system… We have no reserves, there is nothing to sustain the country, we are living day-to-day.”
Cuba is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The country is grappling with skyrocketing inflation and shortages of essential goods, including food, medicine, fuel, and even water. The crisis has prompted a wave of emigration, with over 700,000 Cubans entering the United States between January 2022 and August 2024, according to US officials.
While the government attributes the economic woes primarily to the US embargo, the island is also grappling with the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, which devastated its vital tourism sector, and economic mismanagement. To bolster its power grid, Cuba has leased seven floating power plants from Turkish companies and added numerous small diesel-powered generators.
The current power outage serves as a stark reminder of the challenges facing Cuba and highlights the urgency of addressing the country’s economic and energy woes. The situation has sparked widespread frustration and anger among Cubans, who are calling for a more sustainable and resilient energy infrastructure to ensure a brighter future.