Total blackout in Cuba for third time in less than ten days

Cuba's state electricity company announced on Tuesday that the power grid went offline for the third time in less than ten days, causing a new nationwide power outage.

The state electricity company said the national grid completely failed at around 11:05 am (15:05 GMT).

This is the third total blackout experienced by the Caribbean island since the beginning of July, and the fifth since the start of 2026.

Authorities did not immediately disclose the cause.

Cuba is experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades, exacerbated by the oil blockade imposed by US President Donald Trump in January.

Cubans have been accustomed to power outages for years due to aging power plants, most of which date from the Soviet era and are in poor condition.

But the frequency of outages has accelerated since the start of the oil blockade, with authorities attributing it to a lack of fuel needed to run the generators that support the dilapidated national grid.

Since January, Washington has allowed only one oil tanker, arriving from Russia, to dock in Cuba.

The blockade, along with a barrage of sanctions imposed on the Cuban state and foreign companies dealing with it, has pushed the country to the brink of collapse.

The country is also experiencing shortages of food, drinking water, and medicine, prompting the United Nations to warn of a humanitarian emergency.

Last week, Cuba experienced two power outages. In both cases, it took more than 24 hours to restore electricity to the island, which has a population of 9.6 million.

Relations between Washington and Havana have been tense since the beginning of the year, especially after US forces arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and took him and his wife to the United States to face federal charges.

Maduro had long been an ally of Havana, and after his ouster, Cuba was deprived of Venezuelan oil due to the US blockade.

Donald Trump considers Cuba, located 150 kilometers off the coast of Florida, a major threat to US national security and has repeatedly hinted at the possibility of Washington imposing control over the island.