The facts
Millions in Cuba were left without power on Friday as the country experienced a major blackout after its entire electricity grid suffered "total disconnection," according to Cuba's energy ministry. Grid operator UNE stated that power was restored to some priority areas by late evening, including those near hospitals and water pumping stations in Havana. This marks at least the sixth partial or total blackout to affect Cuba this year. The country's aging electricity infrastructure and chronic fuel shortages have been exacerbated by U.S. sanctions and an oil blockade, which have strained supplies. UNE reported the outage began just before 2 PM local time on Friday due to a transmission fault and poor weather conditions in central Cuba. Protocols for gradual power restoration were activated and ongoing on Saturday. Residents described the situation as increasingly common, with frequent interruptions to electricity, water, and gas. The repeated blackouts have led to rare protests in Cuba. Havana has blamed its fuel crisis on the Trump administration's sanctions, while Washington attributes the energy crisis to poor internal management and has accused Cuba of posing a national security threat.
Our take
Cuba's energy ministry, a department that apparently communicates via carrier pigeon and hope, confirmed the entire nation's lights went out Friday afternoon. The official term is "total disconnection," which is bureaucratic bullshit for the whole fucking thing fell over. This wasn't a hiccup; it was the grid taking a nap in the middle of the day, triggered by what they're calling a transmission fault and bad weather. In a country where the infrastructure is older than most of the politicians, a stiff breeze is a national emergency. The state grid operator, UNE, managed to get power back to some priority spots near hospitals and water pumps in Havana by late evening, which is the equivalent of putting a single Band-Aid on a shotgun wound. They've activated their protocols for gradual power restoration, which is a fancy way of saying they're going to turn it back on neighborhood by neighborhood whenever they feel like it, probably by rubbing two sticks together. This is at least the sixth time this year the island has been plunged into partial or total darkness. Residents say these blackouts, along with the predictable loss of water and gas that comes with them, are now just a regular feature of life. It's so common that the real shock would be a full 24 hours with the fucking lights on. The cause is a perfect shitstorm of ancient, crumbling power plants, chronic fuel shortages, and the ongoing economic siege from the United States. Havana blames Trump-era sanctions for the fuel crisis, while Washington points the finger at Cuba's own "poor internal management" and calls the country a national security threat. It's a classic blame game while millions of people sit in the dark, wondering if the fridge is about to become a science experiment. The situation has gotten so dire it's sparked rare public protests, because nothing makes people take to the streets faster than the collective realization that the entire system is held together by spit and a prayer. So here we are: another weekend, another nationwide blackout. The only thing more reliable than the power going out is the government's promise that they're working on it.
