ALBAWABA- Cuba was plunged into a nationwide blackout on Monday after the country's national electricity grid suffered a complete collapse, prompting authorities to launch an investigation into the cause of the outage.
State electricity company Unión Eléctrica (UNE) confirmed that the entire national power system had shut down and said technical teams were working to restore electricity while investigating the cause of the failure. Officials have not provided a timeline for restoring power, and the extent of the technical malfunction remains unclear.
The nationwide outage is the latest in a series of energy crises that have strained Cuba's aging electricity infrastructure. The country has faced recurring blackouts in recent years due to deteriorating power plants, fuel shortages, and limited investment in the energy sector, disrupting homes, hospitals, businesses, and other essential services.
Cuban authorities have repeatedly blamed the country's energy difficulties on the long-standing U.S. economic embargo and sanctions, arguing they have restricted access to fuel, equipment, and financing while seeking to destabilize the government. The United States maintains that its sanctions are intended to promote democratic reforms and address human rights concerns.
The crisis reflects a combination of external economic pressure and longstanding structural challenges, including aging infrastructure, dependence on imported fuel, underinvestment, and vulnerability to natural disasters and technical failures.
In response, Cuba has sought to strengthen energy cooperation with countries including Russia, China, and Venezuela, although those efforts have yet to resolve the country's chronic electricity shortages.
So far, authorities have not identified the immediate cause of the nationwide grid failure. State media urged residents to remain calm, saying emergency measures had been implemented to prioritize power supplies for critical infrastructure while restoration work continues.
