Nearly Half of Cuba Experiences Power Outages as Blackouts Worsen – Reuters

HAVANA (Reuters) – On Thursday evening, over half of Cuba experienced power outages as a result of fuel shortages and malfunctioning power plants, prompting the government to impose widespread blackouts across the Caribbean island.

Cuba’s National Electric Union revealed a deficit of nearly 1,600 megawatts against a demand nearing 3,200 MW around dinner time, leading to millions of people being without electricity, fans, and air conditioning as darkness set in.

While some areas of Havana experienced intermittent outages throughout the day, certain provinces, including Pinar del Rio—a significant agricultural and tobacco-growing region—found themselves completely without power for part of the evening.

By Friday morning, conditions had improved somewhat, but officials warned in their daily update that nearly a third of the island would again face blackouts as peak demand increased later in the day.

This recent surge in power issues follows months of extensive blackouts across Cuba. Many of its aging oil-fired power plants, which are several decades old, continue to break down, and the financially-strapped Communist government is struggling to secure fuel in the global market due to ongoing U.S. sanctions.

The escalating economic crisis, characterized by severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, has triggered an unprecedented wave of emigration by Cubans from the island, further exacerbating the country’s challenges.