Cuba Hit by Third Nationwide Blackout This Year as Energy Crisis Deepens

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – Cuba suffered its third nationwide blackout of the year Monday after the island’s national power grid collapsed, leaving nearly 10 million people without electricity and intensifying the country’s deepening economic and social crisis.

Cuba’s state-run Electric Union said a “total disconnection” of the National Electric Power System had occurred and that officials were investigating the cause. Authorities said small local power systems were being activated to protect vital services as limited electricity began returning to parts of Havana and other areas.

The blackout disrupted public transportation and strained hospitals, with reports that thousands of medical procedures were delayed or canceled as the communist-run nation struggled to keep essential services operating.

The collapse follows two major blackouts in March and comes amid severe fuel shortages, aging infrastructure, food and medicine scarcity, and growing public frustration across the island. Cuba has blamed U.S. sanctions and fuel restrictions, while U.S. officials have argued that Havana’s decades of mismanagement, corruption, and neglect of its power grid are responsible for the crisis.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this year that Cuba’s grid failures stem from obsolete equipment and poor maintenance, accusing the regime of using scarce energy resources to benefit communist elites while ordinary Cubans endure prolonged blackouts. In June, the Trump administration sanctioned Cuba’s state-owned oil company, Unión Cuba-Petróleo, as part of Washington’s pressure campaign against Havana.

The latest blackout underscores the growing instability facing Cuba’s communist government as nationwide power failures, fuel shortages, and public anger continue to spread.

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