Cuba’s Power Grid Collapses, Leaving 10 Million in the Dark

Cuba’s national electric grid suffered a total collapse on Monday, leaving nearly all of the island’s 10 million residents without power.

The failure followed the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras plant, the country’s largest generator. Cuba’s state power operator, Unión Eléctrica (UNE) said crews were working to gradually restore power across the island.

The United States has increased pressure on long-time adversary Cuba this year, following the January capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Cuba’s key foreign ally. President Donald Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to the island and signed an executive order authorizing tariffs on goods imported from countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba, citing the island’s close ties with Iran, Russia, and China.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Friday that the island has not received any oil in the past three months. He added that Cuban officials have been in talks with the U.S. to “identify the bilateral problems that need a solution.”

“The impact (of the blockade) is tremendous. It is most brutally manifested in these energy issues,” the president said. “This causes anguish among the population.”

In February, Trump said the U.S. and Cuba are currently in talks.

“Cuba is right now a failed nation, and they don’t even have jet fuel to get for airplanes to take off. They’re clogging up their runway,” Trump said. “We’re talking to Cuba right now, and Marco Rubio is talking to Cuba right now, and they should absolutely make a deal, because it’s really a humanitarian threat,” Trump said.

Díaz-Canel has acknowledged ongoing discussions with the U.S. about the future of relations between the two countries.

The collapse of Cuba’s power grid comes days after protesters stormed a Communist Party headquarters in Morón amid weeks of blackouts and growing difficulty accessing food.