Havana (AP) — millions of individuals across Cuba was left without electricity on Saturday following an outage in the country’s electrical network that plunged the region into darkness the preceding evening.
The huge power outage is the fourth within the past six months as a severe economic crisis Plaguing the Caribbean nation, the Ministry of Energy and Mines stated on social media that the recent power cut was due to a malfunction at a substation in the outskirts of Havana, the capital city.
The internet and phone services became sporadic sometime on Saturday evening following a power outage that occurred around 8 p.m. local time on Friday.
The Cuban President, Miguel Díaz-Canel, stated on his X account that officials are "making significant efforts to reinstate stability" within the electrical grid.
Lázaro Guerra, who leads the electricity division at the ministry, stated on nationwide TV that power generation had commenced to ensure essential services like hospitals were supported.
A declaration issued by the Cuban Electrical Union on Saturday outlined their plan to establish "mini-grids" which would interconnect with one another to progressively reinstate power supply throughout the nation. Some of these mini-grids have already begun functioning in the regions of Guantánamo, Santiago, Las Tunas, and Pinar del Río.
The provincial energy company in Sancti Spíritos announced via their Telegram channel that over 200,000 clients in the region regained power due to these microgrids.
A lot of Cuban households rely on electrical appliances for cooking their dishes. Such an outage might lead to frozen items defrosting inside fridges and potentially spoiling because of the country’s warm weather conditions.
"When I was just about to begin cooking and preparing some spaghetti, the electricity suddenly cut off," said Cecilia Duquense, a 79-year-old homemaker from the working-class district of Central Havana, on Saturday. "Now what?" she added.
In Havana, individuals went out to shop for groceries on Saturday. Stores were operational, but several relied on batteries or miniature household generators due to power issues.
"We are extremely concerned that the food in the refrigerator might spoil" if the power outage continues for much longer, stated Frank García, a 26-year-old marking operator from Havana.
The gas stations remained operational, yet the tunnel beneath Havana Bay, which links the city with its outer areas, was pitch black.
Cuba suffered similar blackouts in October In November and December. The most recent one occurred at the beginning of 2025 when authorities decided to suspend classes and work activities for two days in mid-February because of an acute shortage of electricity generation, which surpassed 50% nationwide.
Specialists indicate that the electrical outages are due to fuel scarcities at power stations and outdated infrastructure. Many of these facilities have been functioning for over three decades.
The blackouts are occurring alongside a serious economic crisis in Cuba, which experts attribute to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, government policies that led to increased inflation, and most significantly, the intensification of US sanctions.
The Associated Press
