Cuba plunged into darkness on Monday as an island-wide blackout left the country of about 10 million people without power.
The state-run Electric Union announced the widespread outage on X.
“A total disconnection of the National Electric Power System is occurring. The causes are being investigated,” Unión Eléctrica de Cuba wrote.
🔴 #AHORA || Ocurre una desconexión total del Sistema Electroenergético Nacional. Se investigan las causas.
Se continuará informando al respecto. pic.twitter.com/F7ksTBTakO
— Unión Eléctrica de Cuba (@OSDE_UNE) July 6, 2026
More from the Associated Press:
Fuel has been running out across Cuba since January, when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to the island, deepening the island’s ongoing economic and financial crisis. Public transportation has largely been halted, and officials have canceled tens of thousands of surgeries.
ADVERTISEMENTEnergy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said microsystems were already operating throughout Cuba a couple of hours after the outage: “Vital services continue to be protected, amidst this complex situation exacerbated by the energy blockade we face.”
Meanwhile, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the U.S. of trying to “incite social unrest by strangling Cuba’s fuel supply.”
“The actions of electrical workers in the midst of a genocidal energy blockade are heroic,” he wrote on X.
“Officials say the cause is under investigation as the country’s aging electric grid continues to struggle and fuel reserves run low,” Fox News wrote.
“It’s the second nationwide blackout this year, with hospitals and critical services among those impacted as Cuba faces an ongoing energy crisis,” it added.
Watch below:
BREAKING: Cuba has been hit by another island-wide blackout, leaving roughly 10 million people without power.
Officials say the cause is under investigation as the country's aging electric grid continues to struggle and fuel reserves run low.
It's the second nationwide blackout… pic.twitter.com/MwFlJNYjUl
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 6, 2026
The Independent shared further:
Cuba’s domestic fuel production meets only 40 percent of its needs. A significant delivery of 730,000 barrels of oil by a Russian tanker in late March was depleted by the end of April.
The government has resorted to rationing power through intentional outages, some lasting over 24 consecutive hours.
This incident follows previous blackouts, including one in mid-May affecting eastern provinces and another in mid-March that impacted the entire island.
