Massive blackout plunges western Cuba into darkness as power grid struggles

A widespread blackout swept across Havana and much of western Cuba on Wednesday, cutting electricity to millions on an island already grappling with chronic power shortages and a deepening economic crisis.

Authorities said the outage began after a transmission line connecting two major thermoelectric plants failed, triggering a collapse of service across half the country. Lázaro Guerra, general director at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, said technicians were working to restore electricity gradually, but warned that the system remains under heavy strain.

For many residents, the blackout was another blow in a string of hardships. “This is very bad. The thermoelectric plants are always breaking down,” said Havana resident Liubel Quintana in Spanish. “I have two small children so this is very bad. This country is in very bad shape. To get food is very difficult. This is very hard, we have to fight for everything.”

The power failure came after two consecutive days of peak-hour shortages across the island and follows a nationwide blackout last September. Officials then pointed to aging infrastructure and persistent fuel shortages as key factors overwhelming Cuba’s deteriorating grid.

Electricity cuts have also disrupted water service and strained the island’s fragile private-sector businesses, many of which rely on generators they can hardly afford to fuel.

Cuba’s prolonged energy problems reflect the wider economic crisis gripping the country—a crisis intensified by the pandemic, which devastated the tourism industry, tighter U.S. sanctions, and a failed monetary reform intended to unify the currency.

Meanwhile, the eastern half of the island has faced its own recent challenge: widespread outages after Hurricane Melissa battered the region in late October.

As engineers work to bring the lights back on, frustration is rising among residents who say the rolling blackouts have become a defining feature of daily life—one more struggle in a country where, as Quintana puts it, “we have to fight for everything.”