Cuba's national electric grid collapsed on Monday at midday, triggering an island-wide blackout that left approximately 10 million people without power. The state-run Electric Union reported the outage and stated that the cause is under investigation, while the Ministry of Energy and Mines announced that protocols have been activated to restore electricity. This incident marks the third nationwide power outage since the start of the year.
The collapse comes as fuel reserves dwindle and the island's infrastructure continues to crumble. Fuel shortages have plagued the country since January, when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any nation selling or providing oil to the island. This de facto blockade has depleted the supply for power plants, which is critical as Cuba produces only 40 percent of its required fuel. A shipment of 730,000 barrels of oil delivered by a Russian tanker in late March was exhausted by the end of April.
The ongoing energy crisis has deepened Cuba's economic and financial struggles. The government has implemented intentional power rationing with outages that can stretch to more than 24 consecutive hours. Additionally, public transportation has largely halted and officials have canceled tens of thousands of surgeries. This latest collapse follows a total island blackout in mid-March and another blackout affecting eastern provinces in mid-May.