Cuba hit with another blackout as millions across the island are left without electricity

Cuba faced another power grid failure on Friday, plunging millions across the island into darkness. The Ministry of Energy and Mines reported the blackout via its X account, without specifying the cause. They stated that officials had initiated "service-restoration protocols" to restore electricity. The frequent blackouts have become a recurrent issue over the past two years, exacerbated by a severe economic crisis on the island.

The crisis intensified following the United States' imposition of an energy blockade in January, aiming to compel changes in Cuba's political system. The blockade prohibits Cuba from importing the fuel necessary to run its thermoelectric power plants and the replacement parts needed to maintain aging infrastructure. The two most recent nationwide outages occurred in early August, following previous blackouts in July and March, as well as several localized power disruptions.

Even when the national power grid operates, Cubans frequently contend with outages lasting over 30 consecutive hours.