HAVANA, July 14 (Reuters) – Cuba’s national power grid collapsed on Tuesday, Cuba’s energy ministry said, marking the third major blackout in nine days on the island of some 10 million people.
“There has been a total disconnection of the electrical system,” Cuba’s energy ministry said on social media.
The frequent outages come as a U.S.-imposed oil blockade has crippled the island’s already aging energy infrastructure.
U.S. President Donald Trump imposed an oil blockade on the Caribbean island after Washington deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3.
Venezuela was Cuba’s primary fuel benefactor, and subsequent U.S. pressure also led Mexico to halt oil shipments to the island.
The chronic power failures fueled rising social tensions, sparking scattered pot-banging protests in Havana last week after the nationwide blackout.
(Reporting by Laura Gottesdiener; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Chizu Nomiyama )
