Overview
- State media reported that the national grid collapsed again on Monday after authorities had worked to restore power following a full outage overnight to Sunday.
- This collapse is the sixth islandwide blackout since March and follows three large outages in July, showing a sharp rise in the frequency of system failures.
- Hospitals have cut services, schools were closed, phone and internet links are intermittent, refrigeration failed and people are seeking relief on Havana’s Malecón as waste collection and other municipal services falter.
- Havana blames longstanding fuel shortfalls, a decay of generation and transmission equipment and U.S. export limits on oil while U.S. officials attribute the crisis to Cuban mismanagement and President Donald Trump has suggested a possible takeover.
- Analysts and aid experts warn the outages could trigger a worsening humanitarian emergency through spoiled food, reduced medical care and rising unrest, and the situation may prompt new international pressure or sanctions to change fuel flows or policy.