Cuba works to restore power after another major nationwide blackout

The outage marks at least the sixth one this year after a United States-imposed energy blockade went into effect.Cuba has worked to restore power after suffering a significant blackout that left many parts of the country in the dark.The state-run company in charge of operating the country’s electrical system, Union Electrica (UNE), said nearly half of its customers in the capital of Havana had regained power on Saturday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Does the US blockade on Cuba make America safer?list 2 of 3US pummels Cuban economy with new sanctions on mining, constructionlist 3 of 3US continues to squeeze Cuban economy with new round of sanctionsend of list“The re-establishing is being done gradually, as conditions permit,” UNE posted on social media.The latest blackout, at least the 12th since late 2024, first affected five of Cuba’s eastern provinces, including Havana, before spreading across the whole island. It is at least the sixth this year alone.Cuban authorities told the Reuters news agency on Friday the collapse was the result of a failure in high-voltage transmission lines in the central part of the country. UNE said “unstable weather conditions” also played a role.For years, Cuba’s ageing infrastructure and fuel shortages have led to sporadic blackouts. But power outages have become more frequent after the United States, in a bid to put political and economic pressure on the country’s government, imposed an energy blockade in January.United Nations human rights experts have condemned the US oil blockade, calling it a violation of international law and warning ‌that ‌Cuba risks becoming a “silent Gaza” as shortages and blackouts grow ever more critical.Some of the island’s residents said they were already out of power when Friday’s blackout happened.“Yesterday, I’d gone without power for 24 hours. They turned the lights on for an hour, and then the grid collapsed,” Havana resident Frank Lorenzo, 23, told Reuters.