Overview
- The national grid recorded a total disconnection at 11:05 a.m. on Tuesday after the Felton 1 generating unit in Holguín unexpectedly left service, the state utility UNE reported.
- This incident is the fifth nationwide blackout in 2026 and the third full collapse within a week, with authorities linking the pattern to fragile system stability that lets single‑unit failures cascade.
- Cuban officials say the root problems are decades‑old, poorly maintained thermal plants and an acute fuel shortfall that they tie to a U.S. petroleum blockade and public threats to suppliers by President Trump.
- Restoration is proceeding gradually under UNE and the energy ministry, but past recoveries have taken more than 24 to 40 hours and some regions have faced outages of 30 to 72 hours.
- The repeated blackouts are deepening hardship for nearly 10 million people, prompting street protests, cacerolazos and household shifts to solar power, while analysts say sustained fixes require external fuel access and heavy investment in plants.