HAVANA
\nCuba worked to revive its electrical grid Saturday after a second nationwide blackout in less than a week, with repairs hampered by a fuel shortage caused by a US blockade, authorities said.
\nThe Caribbean island is reeling from its worst economic crisis in decades \u2014 one made worse by the fuel blockade imposed by US President Donald Trump in January as part of a pressure campaign aimed at ending six decades of communist rule.
\nAbout 12 percent of households in Havana, a city of 1.7 million, had power as of Saturday night, up from seven percent at midday, according to the state UNE electricity utility.
\n\u201cRestoration is proceeding gradually, as conditions allow,\u201d it said on X.
\nIt was the fourth nationwide blackout in less than six months and the ninth since late 2024 for the island nation which has a population of 9.6 million.
\nThe grid failed Friday afternoon, two days after authorities reconnected the system following a nationwide outage on Monday.
\nCuban residents vented their frustration at the power situation.
\n\u201cWhat can I do? I can\u2019t do anything, just adapt to continue living in this country unfortunately, that\u2019s it, I can\u2019t do anything else,\u201d Eneyda Gomez, a 71-year-old retiree, told AFP.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re already living under an almost unbearable amount of stress…the population can\u2019t take any more,\u201d said Pedro Martinez, 63, who added he sees no \u201csolutions in the medium or short term.\u201d
\nPresident Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a social media post on Saturday the situation was \u201cvery complex due to the genocidal oil blockade\u201d imposed by Washington.
\nWashington authorized in January the arrival of only one Russian tanker \u2014 carrying 100,000 tons of crude \u2014 which came in March. Those reserves have since been exhausted.
\nCuba\u2019s electrical grid suffers from frequent total or partial blackouts due to aging infrastructure and fuel shortages.
\nThe utility company said the fuel shortage also complicates restoration work, as it prevents the use of backup generators powered by imported diesel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HAVANA Cuba worked to revive its electrical grid Saturday after a second nationwide blackout in less than a week, with repairs hampered by a fuel shortage caused by a US blockade, authorities said. The Caribbean island is reeling from its worst economic crisis in decades \u2014 one made worse by the fuel blockade imposed by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n