Utility officials said eastern Cuba was plunged into darkness Wednesday night after a power grid failure left four provinces without electricity -- including the communist island's second-largest city, Santiago de Cuba.
"At this time, the provinces of Holguin, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo are without electric service," state-owned Union Electrica de Cuba (UNE) posted on X.
After six decades under US embargo, Cuba's electricity system is in shambles, with frequent and prolonged outages, and US President Donald Trump has recently threatened to cut off its heavily subsidized oil supplies from socialist Venezuela.
In an analysis of official statistics, AFP found that Cuba generated only half of the electricity it needed in 2025.
Along with shortages of food and medicine, the country is experiencing a mass exodus.
Officials blame tight US sanctions, but poor economic management and the collapse of tourism following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic contributed to the country's woes.
Despite the imposition of the US trade embargo in 1962, Cuba's eight power plants were built in the 1980s and 1990s.
Thirty solar plants built with help from China have not helped to prevent blackouts.
In December, a massive power outage in western Cuba left millions of people without electricity -- including the capital Havana, a city of 1.7 million residents.
The country has endured several national blackouts since late 2024, some of them lasting days.
© Agence France-Presse
