Hours after Cuba, on Saturday (local time), suffered yet another island-wide power blackout, leaving over 10 million people without electricity, the island nation began efforts on Sunday to restore power, Reuters reported.
The power grid collapsed for the second time in a week after a US oil blockade, which has dealt a major blow to the country’s already ailing energy infrastructure.
Second power failure in Cuba in a week
The grid collapsed at 6:32 p.m. (2232 GMT) on Saturday, after a major power plant in Nuevitas, in eastern Cuba’s Camaguey province, failed and went offline, grid operator UNE said.
Announcing the electrical blackout, Cuba’s Ministry of Energy, in a post on X, said, “A total disconnection of the National Electric System has occurred,” adding that the “Protocols for restoration are already beginning to be implemented.”
The island nation was still recovering from a nationwide power grid collapse, which occurred on Monday, CNN reported. The blackout on Monday was the first since Washington began blocking fuel supplies to Havana from Venezuela earlier this year, after it captured President Nicolas Maduro.
Before Saturday’s blackout, the state-owned electricity company said on social media that it was expecting a power deficit of 1.704 megawatts during one of its busiest periods on Saturday.
Cuba’s electrical grid is on the brink of failure
Cuba’s electrical grid has been on the brink of failure for months, with persistent instability leaving residents without power for hours each day, and at times even longer, despite relatively better conditions.
Saturday’s blackout was the third major outage this month. Earlier, on 4 March, much of the system collapsed after a crucial thermoelectric power plant malfunctioned.
Donald Trump wants to take Cuba?
The blackout came nearly a week after US President Donald Trump said whether he would have the “honour of taking the island.” In the past few weeks, he has spoken about Cuba and predicted a collapse of the Communist government there. However, his latest remarks on Monday were made aloud.
Speaking from the White House, Trump said, “You know, all my life I’ve been hearing about the United States and Cuba, when will the United States have the honor of taking Cuba? That’s a big honor,” and added, “Taking Cuba in some form, yeah, taking Cuba — I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it.”
Despite wondering what he needs to do with Cuba, Trump did not clarify whether the US would have to conduct a similar operation to that of Venezuela, a key ally of Havana.
Potential attack on Cuba?
On Saturday, the Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, referring to international activists bringing in humanitarian aid to the island, in a speech said that the government recognises that there could be an attack on the island and is preparing accordingly, CNN reported.
In a national address last week, Díaz-Canel said that the authorities were in talks with their US counterparts regarding possible negotiations to lift the fuel embargo. The government has since made it clear that its political system is not up for discussion in any such manner.
Amid the ongoing struggles in Cuba, what remains to be seen is how the country will manage ahead, or will the government give up, allowing Trump to decide its fate.
