Havana
CNN
—
Cuba’s power grid collapsed Friday night, triggering a nationwide power outage and plunging its more than 10 million people into darkness.
“At around 8:15 p.m. tonight, a failure at the Diezmero substation caused a significant loss of generation in the west of #Cuba and with it the failure of the National Electric System,” Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said in a statement.
Efforts to restore service are underway, the ministry added.
Video filmed by CNN in the capital Havana showed streets and buildings shrouded in total darkness, as people used electric torches to navigate the streets.
By Saturday morning, the Cuban government officials said that “microsystems” —pockets of electricity — had been restored in some cities. However, it remains unclear when the island’s power system would be fully online again and most people remained in the dark.
Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez said on X that the government is working “intensively” to restore power stability across the island and has been in constant communication with the country’s energy minister.
It marks the latest in a series of failures on the Caribbean island struggling with creaking infrastructure, natural disasters and economic turmoil.
Cuban officials have previously blamed US economic sanctions, which increased under the previous administration of President Donald Trump, for further crippling an already ailing energy sector.
Critics also fault a lack of investment in infrastructure by the communist government.
For nearly a week in October, most of Cuba suffered near-total blackouts, the worst energy outages in decades.
While Cubans are used to frequent power outages, to have another nationwide backcourt — the fourth in six months — was unsettling for many people who need electricity to cook and refrigerate food that otherwise spoils quickly in the tropical heat.
Many residents posted on online sites looking for propane, charcoal, and fuel for generators.
