Cuba's national electrical system collapsed entirely on Friday afternoon, leaving millions of residents across the Caribbean island without electricity.
The state-run Electricity Union confirmed a total disconnection of the power grid and announced the activation of emergency recovery protocols to gradually restore service. Authorities attributed the blackout to transmission line failures in western provinces that triggered cascading disconnections eastward across the island, aggravated by adverse weather. The outage crippled daily life throughout Havana and surrounding provinces, paralyzing municipal water pumping systems, interrupting telecommunications, and shutting down commercial activity.
The collapse marks at least the sixth major power system failure this year as Cuba struggles with aging thermoelectric generating plants and severe fuel shortages compounded by external embargoes. By Saturday, utility crews had managed to re-establish small localized power distribution micro-grids to supply critical infrastructure, including regional hospitals and essential government facilities.