Cuba's grid collapses again, marking fourth nationwide blackout of 2026 amid US oil embargo
The island's power system went dark on Friday, just days after a previous outage left millions without electricity and sparked street protests in Havana.
What happened
Cuba suffered a total disconnection of its national electric grid on Friday evening, 10 July 2026, the state electricity company UNE confirmed. Emergency protocols were immediately activated, with priority placed on restoring power to hospitals and other critical facilities. No cause for the latest failure was immediately given.
The collapse occurred in the midst of a critical energy crisis that the country is already suffering heavily from.
A cycle of blackouts
This is the fourth island-wide blackout of 2026, according to Jornal Expresso. Two total outages occurred within a single week in March, followed by another on Monday, 7 July, which took two full days to restore. Even after that, many neighborhoods remained without electricity, including in Santiago de Cuba, the country's second-largest city. Swiss outlet 20 Minuten counted eight nationwide blackouts since October 2025.
- Broken thermoelectric plants
- 7 units
- Thermoelectric plants under maintenance
- 4 units
- Distributed generation units stopped (fuel shortage)
- 106 units
Old grid meets fuel shortage
Decades of underinvestment have left Cuba's electrical infrastructure in a fragile state. UNE reported that seven thermoelectric plants are broken, four are under maintenance, and 106 distributed generation units are idle because of a lack of fuel. The combined capacity falls far short of the island's demand, leaving rolling blackouts a daily reality even between total collapses.
- First nationwide blackout of the current crisis series; eighth such event would follow by July 2026
- Two total blackouts occur within a single week due to fuel shortages
- Second total blackout in the same week of March, paralyzing services
- Third nationwide blackout of 2026; restoration takes two days and triggers protests in Havana
- Fourth total blackout of 2026; entire grid disconnects, emergency protocols activated
US sanctions choke fuel supply
The government in Havana blames Washington for the crisis. In January, President Donald Trump threatened tariffs against any country exporting oil to Cuba, a move that has virtually halted foreign fuel shipments. The US also cut off supplies from Venezuela and pressured Mexico to stop deliveries. Washington considers the Cuban government a national security threat and says sanctions are needed to force political change.
Washington is trying to suffocate the island to provoke a social explosion.
Protests and daily hardship
After Monday's blackout, hundreds of exhausted residents in the Havana neighborhoods of Jaimanitas and Santa Fe took to the streets in high heat. They banged pots, honked horns, and chanted "Turn on the lights." One 60-year-old Havanna resident told 20 Minuten earlier this week that the combination of heat and mosquitoes had become unbearable, asking how much longer people could endure.
What happens next
UNE has not yet explained what triggered Friday's collapse. With generation capacity unable to meet consumption, authorities warn that blackouts will continue. Restoration work is ongoing under emergency protocols, but many Cubans face another stretch without power.
