NewzCubans on Monday were recovering from the sixth islandwide blackout this year, as the nation remains in free-fall after the Trump administration effectively cut it off from oil in January.The energy grid collapses leave people with fewer options to get by as the U.S. keeps up a pressure campaign against the communist-led government.Cuba's government was working to restore power after the state-run electric company reported another "total" blackout Sunday night, without specifying the cause. That followed sweeping outages across western Cuba, including the cities of Pinar del Ro, Matanzas and Havana.IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Island-wide blackout hits Cuba as its fuel reserve dwindles and aging grid crumblesBy Monday, some electricity had been restored in Havana, but much of the Caribbean nation was still disconnected.Cuba already had been reeling from years of economic and energy crisis, compounded by crumbling infrastructure and migration from the island.
threatened to impose a tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide it with oil.Energy authorities reported two nationwide grid collapses in March and three in July, along with several partial outages.Rolling blackouts now last more than 20 hours a day. Obtaining gas and basic goods have become daylong endeavors. The island's once bustling tourism industry has bottomed out.
Hospitals have been left reeling.Many in Havana struggle to sleep in the summer heat. Some now sleep along Havana's famous boardwalk, the malecn, with the benefit of the sea breeze. HAVANA (AP) — Alexey Ríos García awoke not to his bed in Cuba ‘s capital on Monday, but to an ocean breeze and the concrete of Havana’s famous seaside boulevard.
The 30-year-old construction worker ended up curling up with other Cubans on the city’s sea wall, the Malecón, in a desperate attempt to escape the suffocating summer heat during yet another islandwide blackout. Sunday night marked the sixth islandwide blackout since Trump administration effectively cut Cuba off from oil — its main energy source — in January. The move plunged the endemically crisis-stricken country into free-fall.
While authorities on Monday said they were working to get the power back on, much of the island still had no electricity. The energy grid collapses have left people like Ríos García with fewer options to get by as the U.S. maintains its pressure campaign against the communist-led government.
Tomorrow it’ll collapse again … and we’ll be back to sleeping on the Malecón,” said Ríos García, who used a piece of yellow foam as a pillow to cushion his head from the tough concrete. The recurring power outages combined with the stifling heat have created collective insomnia on the island as residents struggle to get through the night. While some like Ríos García have slept on the boulevard, others struggle to get some rest on balconies and front porches.
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