Cuba’s derelict power grid completely collapsed again on Monday, causing a nationwide blackout that left millions of Cubans without power.
Monday marked the third time Cuba’s worn-out National Electric System (SEN) has completely collapsed in 2026 so far, and the eighth nationwide blackout experienced by Cubans since the grid’s complete collapse in late 2024. According to Cuba-focused outlets, the blackout started around Monday at noon (local time) and remains largely unresolved 24 hours later.
At press time, the Electric Union (UNE), the Castro regime’s electric authority, has reportedly not disclosed what caused the blackout, nor has it provided an estimated timetable towards restoring power.
For decades, Cubans have experienced daily, seemingly endless blackouts as a result of the Castro regime’s complete lack of investment in maintaining and renovating its aged power grid. For more than 67 years, the ruling communists’ sheer mismanagement of the nation has pushed its power grid, other basic utilities, and virtually every single area of its infrastructure to the brink of complete ruin — with some exceptions, such as the nation’s tourist industry run by the Cuban military, providing one of the main sources of funding for its repressive apparatus.
Cuba largely relies on seven obsolete thermal power plants to generate its electricity, some of which are over four decades old and have not been renovated or replaced. After years of continuous malfunctions and lack of proper maintenance, Cuba’s power grid completely collapsed in 2024. While the communist regime managed to bring the system back online, the already dysfunctional power grid has been operating in a much worse state since the initial nationwide blackout. The situation has led to worsening, and more frequent, blackouts over the past two years that can now last 30 hours or more.
Martí Noticias reported that, as of Tuesday morning, only a “minimal” recovery of the nation’s power grid has been achieved, with about about 48,000 Cubans having recovered power in Havana, representing only five percent of the capital city’s residents. The independent outlet 14 y Medio reported that the power grid has been reconnected between Mariel and Santi Spiritus in western Cuba — noting the dramatic situation in eastern Cuba, where there is only minimal power generation available.
The ongoing blackout appears to not have affected the Cuban regime leadership and its state media apparatus, all of which remain operational at press time.
Miguel Diáz-Canel, the figurehead “president” of Cuba, took to social media to once again accuse the United States being responsible for the precarious situation of the nation’s power grid. Over the past months, the Castro regime has denounced the administration of President Donald Trump for its “blockade” of fuel shipments from other countries, which the ruling communists largely depend on to sustain its ailing regime.
The ruling communists have found themselves in a complex situation after they lost access to the heavily discounted Venezuelan oil shipments that Nicolás Maduro had been providing his Cuban mentors for years. Speaking with the Cuban regime-owned news channel Canal Caribe on Monday evening, Energy Minister Lázaro Guerra claimed that restoring the derelict power grid is “more difficult than usual” due to the shortages of fuel in Cuba.
14 y Medio noted that the past two nationwide blackouts experienced in Cuba this year prior to Monday were caused by the malfunction of the Antonio Guiteras Thermal Power Plant located in the province of Matanzas.
According to the outlet, “you could see” the blackout coming after the Antonio Guiteras plant reportedly malfunctioned again last Friday, joining other plants that were already out of service by then. 14 y Medio also noted that a large amount of Cuba’s population “had not even noticed” the collapse of their country’s power grid on Monday, as residents of several municipalities in Havana were already going 20 hours into a blackout by the time the grid collapsed on Monday.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.