Cuba is experiencing a new general power outage on Monday, the third in less than six months and the eighth since the end of 2024, at a time when electricity production is being put to the test by the oil blockade imposed by Washington.
“There has been a total disconnection of the national electro-energy system”, informed the Union Electrica (UNE) on
Cuba’s electricity network regularly suffers general or partial outages due to dilapidated infrastructure and fuel shortages.
“There is no wifi, no electricity, we can’t work,” a 24-year-old programmer from a private company that develops software in the Old Havana district told AFP.
AFP
The young man, who did not wish to reveal his name, was preparing to return home just a few hours after starting his work week.
Lately, “we only had three or four hours of light a day, but now it’s more serious, we don’t know when it’s going to come back,” explains Meyboll Font, 51, who works for himself in another district of the capital.
“Living like this is agony,” she said.
Cuba’s electricity production relies primarily on seven aging thermal power plants, which frequently break down or must be shut down for maintenance, as well as a network of backup generators powered by imported diesel.
Daily cuts have intensified since Washington imposed an oil blockade in January that prevents fuel deliveries.
AFP
At the same time, the country’s main power plant, Antonio Guiteras, located in the west, and shut down on Monday due to a breakdown, has seen its activity paralyzed more than fifteen times since the start of the year due to successive failures.
This situation causes incessant power cuts which now reach more than 30 hours in a row in Havana, and several days in the provinces, despite a vast program to install solar parks launched two years ago.
“Constrain”
Relations between the United States and Cuba have become significantly strained since the start of the year, particularly after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, an ally of the Cuban government.
In addition to the oil blockade in force since January, which is putting a strain on the daily life of the population and all basic services, particularly health, Washington has imposed new sanctions against Cuban companies and leaders.
Donald Trump believes that Cuba, which is located about 150 kilometers from the coast of Florida, constitutes “an extraordinary threat” to the national security of the United States. He warned several times that he could “take control”.
The two countries have been in difficult talks for months.
Under pressure, the Cuban authorities adopted in mid-June a package of unprecedented measures in favor of the market economy, an upheaval for the economic model of the island since the adoption of communism almost 70 years ago.
On Monday, Cuba denounced the desire of the United States to “prevent” the UN General Assembly from ruling on Tuesday on the impact of the oil blockade and other sanctions imposed by Washington.
“The United States government is trying to prevent the UN General Assembly from taking a decision. It puts pressure on governments and seeks to constrain the sovereign will of member states,” said the head of Cuban diplomacy, Bruno Rodriguez, on X.
A vote by member states is necessary for the opening of such a debate before the General Assembly.
This debate, requested by Havana, is distinct from that which has taken place annually before the General Assembly since 1992 and concludes with the vote on a resolution requesting the lifting of the American economic embargo applied since 1962.
In 2025, the resolution was adopted by a smaller majority than in previous years due to a vast diplomatic offensive from Washington.
