Cuba restores power to most of country after another blackout

Cuba restores electricity to two-thirds of the country after a nationwide blackout amid ongoing economic challenges and U.S. sanctions.

Cuba was gradually restoring power Tuesday (March 17, 2026) after a nationwide blackout, the latest setback amid an oil blockade imposed by Washington in an effort to pressure the communist authorities.

The government did not specify what caused the latest of Cuba’s frequent power outages, but said that as of Tuesday (March 17, 2026) morning two-thirds of the country had electricity again.

In Havana, which is home to 1.7 million people, some neighborhoods had power.

“What we fear all the time is that the blackout will drag on and we will lose the little bit that we have in the fridge, because everything is so expensive,” said Olga Suarez, a 64 year old retiree.

“Otherwise we are used to it because here almost all the time you go to bed and wake up without electricity,” she told AFP.

Cuba’s ageing electricity generation system is in shambles, with daily power outages of up to 20 hours the norm in parts of the island, which lacks the fuel needed to generate power.