HAVANA, Cuba (AP) 鈥� An islandwide blackout hit on Monday as the country’s fuel reserves dwindle and its electric grid continues to crumble.
The blackout in the country of nearly 10 million people was reported by the state-run Electric Union, which said on X that the cause is under investigation. The Ministry of Energy and Mines wrote on X that it has activated protocols to restore electricity.
Fuel has been running out across Cuba since January, when U.S. President Donald Trump on any country that sells or provides oil to the island, deepening the island鈥檚 ongoing economic and financial crisis. Public transportation has largely been halted, and officials have canceled tens of thousands of surgeries.
Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said microsystems were already operating throughout Cuba a couple of hours after the outage: 鈥淰ital services continue to be protected, amidst this complex situation exacerbated by the energy blockade we face.鈥�
The outage sparked concern across Havana, with 36-year-old Lina May wondering when the power would come back on so she could cook some rice.
鈥淚 just told my dad that we have to buy charcoal because otherwise we won鈥檛 eat and we鈥檒l starve,鈥� she said.
Richard Vald茅s, 40, said the outage is just the latest hit of many. 鈥淲e’re without power again,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow we have no water, no gas, nothing until they restore it.鈥�
Cuba produces only 40% of the fuel it needs, while the 730,000 barrels of oil in late March ran out by the end of April.
The government also has been rationing power with intentional outages that can stretch to more than 24 consecutive hours.
A blackout in mid-May , while a blackout in mid-March .
Like many Cubans, Mario Pedroso, a 33-year-old Havana resident, was resigned about Monday’s total blackout.
鈥淥il hasn鈥檛 come in here for a while, and we have no way to solve the problem,鈥� he said. “We have to resist, as we Cubans say. That鈥檚 all.鈥�
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Associated Press reporter D谩nica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.
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