Cuba's national electric grid suffered a total collapse on Monday, July 6, 2026, marking the third nationwide blackout this year and the eighth since late 2024. The outage left the country's population of nearly 10 million without power, with state-run Electric Union (UNE) investigating the cause. This incident occurred amidst an ongoing energy crisis, characterized by crumbling infrastructure and severe fuel shortages.
The crisis is significantly exacerbated by tight US sanctions and an effective US oil blockade, which Cuban officials, including President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy, have blamed for hindering fuel imports. The blockade has also affected critical services, with one official stating that protocols were activated to protect vital services like hospitals and food production, though only 1% of Havana's demand was met by late afternoon on Monday. Rural areas have faced blackouts lasting up to 70 hours, and urban areas have seen planned outages of up to 30 hours.
Public discontent is rising, with Cubans in several locations banging pots and setting rubbish on fire to protest the outages and shortages of transport, food, and medicine. While most of the country gradually had power restored by Tuesday, some areas remained in darkness. President Díaz-Canel urged citizens to direct their anger towards the US government, accusing Washington of attempting to induce a "social explosion through asphyxiation" by blocking fuel access. The US maintains that its economic pressure aims to force political and economic reforms in Cuba.
