Officials in Cuba reported an island-wide blackout Monday within the country of some 11 million people as its energy and economic crises deepen.
Cuba has blamed its woes on a U.S. energy blockade after President Donald Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to it.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines on X noted a “complete disconnection” of the country’s electrical system and said it was investigating.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Friday said the island had not received oil shipments in greater than three months and was operating on solar energy, natural gas and thermoelectric plants, and the federal government has needed to postpone surgeries for tens of hundreds of individuals.
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A massive outage over every week ago affected the island’s west, leaving hundreds of thousands without power.
Critical oil shipments from Venezuela were halted after the U.S. attacked the South American country in early January and arrested its then-president, Nicolás Maduro.
While Cuba produces 40% of its petroleum and has been generating its own power, it hasn’t been sufficient to fulfill demand as its electric grid continues to crumble.
On Friday, Díaz-Canel confirmed that Cuba was holding talks with the U.S. government as the issues proceed to deepen.
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