Overview
- The first boat of a civil aid flotilla, which docked Tuesday in Havana, carried medical supplies, food and solar panels, with two more vessels expected after earlier air shipments that organizers say total about 50 tons.
- Following Saturday's nationwide grid collapse, the third this month, Cuba's electric utility began staged restarts Sunday that returned limited service to parts of Havana and set up local microsystems to keep hospitals and vital centers powered.
- President Miguel Díaz-Canel says Cuba has received no foreign oil for three months, a shortfall tied to a U.S. threat of tariffs on countries selling fuel to the island that led suppliers such as Mexico to pause shipments.
- Blackouts and fuel shortages are disrupting daily life as hospitals cancel surgeries, food spoils without refrigeration, water pumps stall, buses and taxis sit idle, and families turn to solar lanterns and donated medicines to get by.
- The crisis is intensifying political pressure as the president says he could “take” Cuba, critics label the oil squeeze economic warfare, and conservative outlets urge holding the embargo while others track aid efforts and humanitarian costs.