Cuba Plunged Into Darkness Again as Church Endures Communist Pressure

Key Facts

Published: July 15, 2026 Location: Havana Source: Reuters, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

• Cuba suffered its third major nationwide blackout in nine days, leaving approximately 10 million people without electricity.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed communist corruption and military economic control for much of the island’s suffering.
• Cuban pastors and unregistered churches continue to face surveillance, harassment, detention and restrictions on worship.

Third nationwide blackout in nine days deepens hardship as Washington presses Havana for political and religious freedom

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

HAVANA, CUBA (Worthy News) – Cuba’s national electrical grid collapsed Tuesday, plunging roughly 10 million people into darkness in the communist island’s third major blackout in nine days.

The nationwide failure came as Cuba’s aging power plants struggle with severe fuel shortages following a U.S.-imposed oil blockade. Venezuela had served as Havana’s principal fuel supplier until the United States removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power on January 3. Mexico later halted oil shipments to Cuba under pressure from Washington.

The worsening crisis has disrupted transportation, communications, food storage and medical care. In Havana, traffic lights went dark while generators echoed through the capital. Scattered pot-banging protests have also emerged as Cubans voice growing frustration with both the communist government and the prolonged shortages.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has argued that Cuba’s suffering is rooted not merely in sanctions but in decades of communist corruption and economic mismanagement. In May, Rubio accused Cuba’s ruling elite and the military-controlled GAESA conglomerate of diverting the nation’s wealth while ordinary citizens endure shortages of electricity, fuel and food.

Rubio offered Havana a path toward improved relations with Washington if Cuba permits free multiparty elections, opens its economy and ends the military’s control over much of the country’s commercial life.

Churches Face Surveillance and Harassment

Cuba’s Christians are enduring the crisis while continuing to operate under intense government control.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its May 2026 assessment that Cuban authorities exercise power over virtually every area of worship and religious practice. Unregistered churches face particularly severe persecution, while pastors and other religious leaders remain vulnerable to surveillance, threats, harassment, detention and imprisonment.

Despite decades of communist repression, Cuba’s churches continue to worship, serve struggling communities and proclaim the Gospel—often with few resources and under the watchful eye of the state.

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