Nationwide Blackout Hits Cuba as Power Grid Fails Again
Cuba experienced a nationwide blackout on Wednesday following a failure of the country’s power grid. The outage, which occurred at 2:08 a.m., was triggered when the Antonio Guiteras thermal power plant, the largest of Cuba’s eight coal-fired power plants, went offline, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mines. The government immediately began efforts to restore power across the island.
This blackout marks the third time in two months that Cuba has faced such a widespread power failure. The previous major outage occurred in mid-October, when extended power cuts left the capital, Havana, in a near standstill. The capital saw schools close, public transportation halt, and traffic lights go dark. At that time, the failure was also linked to issues at the Antonio Guiteras plant.
Though power was restored in most parts of the country the following week, another setback occurred in early November when Hurricane Rafael struck Cuba, once again knocking out the power grid.
Cuban authorities have attributed the recurring power issues to challenges in acquiring fuel for the country’s power plants. They cite the tightening of the U.S. trade embargo, particularly under the presidency of Donald Trump, which has complicated fuel imports. The ongoing power disruptions also reflect the broader economic difficulties facing Cuba, which is grappling with what experts describe as its worst economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had long subsidized the communist state.
