Overview
- Cuba’s energy minister said Wednesday night the island has absolutely no diesel or fuel oil, leaving the power grid in a critical state with no reserves.
- Following Wednesday’s longest outages in the capital, residents in several Havana neighborhoods banged pots, blocked roads, and demanded electricity as blackouts stretched to 20–22 hours a day.
- Cuba is keeping parts of the system running with domestic crude, natural gas, and solar, but much of the 1,300 megawatts of new solar output goes unused because the grid lacks storage and is unstable.
- The crunch follows a January U.S. order threatening tariffs on countries that ship fuel to Cuba, which halted supplies from Venezuela and Mexico, and a one-off Russian tanker donation in late March has already been consumed.
- The U.S. State Department publicly restated a $100 million aid package tied to reforms and church-led distribution, while Cuban leaders blame an American energy blockade and say they are still seeking new fuel deals.