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Widespread blackout hits Cuba as power plant fails
Millions across Cuba lost electricity on Wednesday after a sudden shutdown at a major thermal plant, deepening the island's energy crisis. Officials reported that two-thirds of the country, including the capital Havana, was affected.
Cause and scope of the outage
Cuba's national electricity company, UNE, attributed the blackout to a breakdown at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, located about 100 kilometers east of Havana. The failure disrupted power across a vast stretch of the island, from the central province of Camagüey to Pinar del Río in the west.
Efforts to restore service were underway, but no timeline was provided. This marks the second major outage in western Cuba in the past three months.
Fuel shortages worsen energy crisis
The blackout underscores Cuba's ongoing struggle with fuel shortages, exacerbated by U.S. sanctions targeting oil shipments from Venezuela. The island, which relies heavily on imported fuel for electricity, has faced chronic power cuts in recent years.
Venezuela previously supplied Cuba with roughly 35,000 barrels of oil daily-about half of its needs-before U.S. forces detained Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. Since then, Washington has seized multiple oil shipments bound for Cuba.
Broader impacts on daily life
Prolonged outages, some lasting up to 18 hours, have disrupted essential services, including hospital emergency wards, dialysis treatment, and water pumping stations. Public transport and waste collection have also been severely affected.
The aviation sector is feeling the strain as well. Air France announced on Wednesday that it would suspend flights to Havana from late March until mid-June, citing fuel shortages. Other airlines have taken similar steps in recent months.
Geopolitical tensions deepen crisis
U.S.-Cuba relations have remained tense since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. The U.S. has maintained economic and trade embargoes on Cuba for over six decades, with President Donald Trump explicitly pushing for regime change.
Trump has threatened tariffs on goods imported to the U.S. from any country supplying oil to Cuba, further isolating the island's economy.
What's next
Cuba's government has not announced immediate solutions to the fuel shortage. Analysts warn that without a resolution, power cuts and disruptions to critical services are likely to persist.
