Cuba’s power grid also went down, causing the third blackout in 10 days | Donald Trump News

Millions lost power when Cuba went into a nationwide shutdown in 2026 while the United States was cut off from oil.

Cuba’s national electricity grid has collapsed, putting the island in third place global darkness in less than 10 days leaving nearly 10 million people without electricity.

The blackout began around 11am local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, when all electricity in the country went offline, according to the state-run electricity company, UNE.

“There has been a total power outage,” Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said on television.

The latest shutdown comes as Cuba faces its worst economic crisis in decades, worsened by a US-imposed oil embargo that has exacerbated oil shortages and pushed the island’s aging energy system.

US President, Donald Trump, signed the law to block in January after the United States removed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power. Venezuela was a long-time supplier of oil to Cuba, and under pressure from the US, Mexico also stopped sending oil to the island.

By 2023, according to the International Energy Agency, Cuba would produce about 40 percent of its oil consumption, and stop relying heavily on imported oil.

The Trump administration has said that this is intended to force the communist government of Cuba to hold democratic elections and release what it says is. political prisoners.

Repeated power outages have caused widespread frustration on the island. A week ago, scattered protests broke out in Havana, with residents banging pots and pans and chanting “turn on the lights” as millions endured another long blackout. After all the power outages last week, it took 24 hours to restore power to the island.

Cuban authorities have struggled for months to keep the electricity on as fuel shortages and an aging electricity grid, much of it dating back to the 1960s and 1980s, leave the system vulnerable.

Havana blames the crisis on the US oil blockade, while Washington blames Cuba’s communist government for the country’s energy crisis.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly debate on US sanctions last weekUS Ambassador Michael Waltz said the Cuban leaders were responsible for the power shortage.

“Change your ways, turn on the lights of your people,” he said.