Overview
- The national grid went offline at about 11:05 a.m. on Tuesday, leaving roughly 9.6–10 million people without electricity in what officials say is the third full island blackout in less than 10 days.
- UNE reported that a fault in a Holguín generating unit caused a sudden frequency change that triggered the system collapse and that scarce fuel supplies have made emergency generators unusable.
- Authorities activated restoration protocols that create so‑called micro‑islands—small, isolated sections of the grid—so hospitals, food‑processing plants and other priority sites can get power while technicians reconnect the network.
- The outages have halted much public transport, forced cancellation of tens of thousands of surgeries, cut water pumping and telecoms in places, and have fueled public anger expressed in street protests and noise demonstrations.
- Cuban officials blame U.S. fuel restrictions imposed in January under President Donald Trump, while U.S. officials point to decades‑old, poorly maintained equipment; energy experts say lasting stability will require sustained fuel supplies and large infrastructure investment given Cuba produces only about 40% of the oil it uses.