Nationwide Power Failure Grips Cuba as Fuel Supplies Shrink and Grid Weakens

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — Electrical service collapsed across Cuba on Monday, the latest blow to a nation struggling with shrinking fuel stocks and a power network that keeps failing under strain.

The state-run Electric Union, which serves roughly 10 million people, announced the outage on X and said investigators are still working to identify what triggered it. The Ministry of Energy and Mines posted on the same platform that it has rolled out protocols aimed at bringing power back online.

Shortages have deepened since January, when United States President Donald Trump threatened tariffs against any country that sells or supplies oil to the island. That pressure has added to a prolonged economic and financial crisis already weighing on daily life.

Public transport has been largely shut down, and officials have called off tens of thousands of surgeries.

Cuba generates only 40 per cent of the fuel it requires domestically. A Russian tanker delivered 730,000 barrels in late March, but that supply was used up by the end of April.

Authorities have also rationed electricity through planned outages, some lasting more than 24 hours straight.

Similar failures have struck repeatedly this year. A blackout in mid-March cut power across the entire island, while one in mid-May hit eastern provinces.