Cuba links latest power grid collapse to U.S. sanctions

The Cuban government said Wednesday that the latest collapse of the country's national power grid, the third nationwide outage in less than two weeks, occurred amid economic and energy pressure from the United States, reported Xinhua. "Yesterday's blackout of the National Electric System comes at a time when the U.S. government is suffocating our economy and our electric power sector to the utmost," Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote on X. Rodriguez said Washington was not satisfied with what he described as a "genocidal oil blockade," and was also pursuing and sanctioning Cuban and foreign companies linked to the strategic sector. He said U.S. officials, in particular Secretary of State Marco Rubio, "do not care about the suffering of thousands of families, the hundreds of hospitals without electricity, or the loss of food due to lack of refrigeration." "They condemn the Cuban people to collective punishment with a single goal: to destroy the Revolution, its achievements and its history," Rodriguez said. According to the state-run National Electric Union, the operator of Cuba's power grid, the National Electric System was restored at 7 a.m. after Tuesday's collapse. Two other nationwide blackouts were reported on July 6 and July 10. Cuba's energy crisis worsened in early 2026 after the United States issued an executive order allowing sanctions on countries that export fuel to the Caribbean island. In the past six months, Cuba received a Russian shipment of 100,000 tonnes of crude oil, though national authorities said the country needs about eight fuel tankers a month to keep its energy system operating normally. The fuel supply shortage has been compounded by the deterioration of Cuba's power infrastructure, which relies on aging thermoelectric plants that have been in operation for extended periods and, according to official sources, has not received the appropriate maintenance.