Cuba‘s electric grid collapsed late Friday leading to a nationwide power outage and leaving millions in the dark.
At around 8:15 p.m., an outage at the Diezmero substation in Havana caused “a significant loss of generation in western Cuba and, with it, the failure of the National Electric System,” Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said Friday on X.
Residents in Guantánamo, Artemisa, Santiago de Cuba, and Santa Clara experienced blackouts with just flickers of light, the Associated Press reported.
🚨 CUBA IS UNDER A TOTAL BLACKOUT
65 years of Communist dictatorship has destroyed the electrical grid. The regime is so incompetent & cruel it refuses to provide basic services to the population.
The Cuban people want freedom. The time is now.
— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) March 15, 2025
The majority of Cuba remains without power as of Saturday morning. Cuba’s grid operator said Saturday that it was only generating around 225 megawatts, which is 10% less of total demand, Reuters reported.
Nationwide blackouts in Cuba have become a norm as power outages are caused by a weakened electric grid and fuel shortages.
Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-FL), the only Cuban-born member of Congress, told the