Cuba suffers second nationwide power outage in less than a week
Cuba on Saturday suffered its second nationwide power outage in less than a week, according to officials.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines said on X that another "total disconnection of the National Electric System has occurred. Protocols for restoration are already beginning to be implemented."
The National Electric Union said the outage was caused by the shutdown of Unit No. 6 at a power plant in Nuevitas. It caused a domino effect to the rest of the country, the utility agency said on social media.
On Monday, officials in Cuba reported an island-wide blackout that affected some 11 million people. Humanitarian organizations began delivering aid to Cuba by air Friday, including solar panels, food and medicine. Saturday's outage was the fourth major blackout in Cuba over the past four months.
Protests have been reported in Cuba in the past week as frustration grows over prolonged blackouts and worsening living conditions across the island, CBS Miami reported.
As its energy and economic crises deepen, the country is blaming the problems on a U.S. energy blockade after President Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to it.
Cuba has relied heavily on foreign assistance and oil shipments from allies like Mexico, Russia and Venezuela. But critical oil shipments from Venezuela were halted after the U.S. attacked the South American country in early January and arrested its then-president, Nicolás Maduro.
Mr. Trump has for months suggested Cuba's government is on the verge of collapse, saying that top Cuban leaders would be smart to avoid the fate of Maduro. After Cuba's electric grid collapsed earlier this week, Mr. Trump told reporters he believed he'd soon have "the honor of taking Cuba."
"Taking Cuba in some form…whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth," Mr. Trump said. "They're a very weakened nation right now."
In a post to X on Tuesday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez wrote: "In the face of the worst scenario, Cuba is accompanied by a certainty: any external aggressor will clash with an impregnable resistance."