Cuba’s national power grid collapsed on Tuesday, the energy ministry said, marking the third major blackoutin nine days on the island of about 10 million people. “There has been a total disconnection of the electrical system,” the ministry said on social media. The frequent outages come as a U.S.-imposed oil blockade has crippled the island’s already aging energy infrastructure. U.S. President Donald Trump imposed an oil blockade on the Caribbean island after Washington deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3.
Venezuela was Cuba’s primary fuel supplier, and subsequent U.S. pressure also led Mexico to halt oil shipments to the island. In the capital Havana, traffic lights were out and the hum of generators echoed through the streets. Many residents, accustomed to blackouts, expressed frustration at their ever-increasing frequency and duration. “My mother is bedridden with dementia, and because of these blackouts I’ve had to throw away meat and fish from the refrigerator because it all spoiled,” said Julia Valdes, 70. “This is already the third collapse of the national electricity system this week. How much longer is this going to last? We can’t go on living like this anymore.” The chronic power failures have fueled frustration with the government and prompted small nightly pot-banging protests, as well as anger over the U.S.-imposed oil blockade. “It’s unfair that we’re having to go through this situation,” said Valdes.
(Reporting by Ayose Naranjo in Havana; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez, Chizu Nomiyama and Sanjeev Miglani)