HAVANA (AP) — Cuba suffered an island-wide blackout Monday, leaving its approximately 11 million people without power as the country grapples with a severe and prolonged energy crisis. The outage, which began in the afternoon, was attributed to a failure at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant in Matanzas province, a critical facility that has repeatedly broken down.
National Electricity Union (UNE) officials stated that the failure triggered a cascade effect, collapsing the fragile national grid. The blackout affected all provinces, including the capital Havana, and lasted for several hours before a gradual restoration of service began in the evening. Such widespread outages have become increasingly common, highlighting the dire state of Cuba's aging infrastructure.
The incident underscores a deepening economic and energy crisis on the island. Cuba's power grid relies heavily on antiquated thermoelectric plants and imported fuel, supplies of which have been severely constrained. The government has implemented daily scheduled blackouts for months to manage the deficit, but unscheduled total collapses continue to disrupt daily life and the economy.
