Cuba is suffering increasingly severe blackouts after the island's communist government announced that fuel reserves have been exhausted. Rare protests have erupted in several residential neighborhoods around the capital Havana.
Large areas in eastern Cuba were plunged into darkness on Thursday (May 14) during the latest nationwide rolling blackouts. Meanwhile, protests against the power outages also broke out in western areas near Havana.
“We have absolutely no gasoline, no diesel,” Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said during a late-night press conference on Wednesday (May 13). “The only things we have are gas from domestic wells and domestic crude oil, and the output of both is increasing.” Levy added that Cuba is struggling to secure fuel imports.
“The situation is very tense. The impact of the blockade is causing us significant harm, and we still haven't received fuel,” he added.
The island nation of roughly 10 million people is relying on limited domestic fuel production and solar energy to keep part of its grid operational. However, the power system has become increasingly fragile.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel has blamed the escalating crisis on U.S. sanctions. “The situation of the National Electric System has become particularly tense in recent days,” Diaz-Canel said in a statement Wednesday, warning that the country expects to face a deficit of more than 2,000 megawatts during evening peak hours.
Diaz-Canel also stated that about 1,100 megawatts of generating capacity were lost on Wednesday due to fuel shortages, which he described as the result of a “genocidal energy blockade” imposed by the U.S. and threats of tariffs on countries that supply fuel to Cuba.
A resident of San Miguel del Padron, a suburb of Havana, told AFP that people protested the power cuts by banging pots and pans on Wednesday evening.
Several other similar small protests have been held in neighborhoods across the capital to express widespread discontent, according to AFP.
“Turn the lights on!” residents in Playa, a western district of the capital, shouted.
Widespread blackouts have recurred repeatedly in Cuba since 2024, as fuel prices have soared amid the deepening crisis. In some areas of Havana, residents endure blackouts lasting more than 19 hours a day, while outages in some provinces last all day.
Cuba's power system depends on eight aging thermal power plants, some in operation for more than 40 years, which frequently break down or are taken offline for maintenance.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has renewed an offer of $100 million in aid to Cuba, on condition that the assistance be distributed through the Catholic Church rather than the Cuban government. “We are willing to hear the details of the proposal and how it would be implemented,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on social media, signaling cautious openness to discussions despite rising tensions between Havana and Washington.
