Cuba has not received oil shipments since early January amid US pressure, worsening the humanitarian crisis on the island.
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Published On 16 Mar 2026
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Cuba’s national power grid has collapsed amid an ongoing United States-imposed oil blockade on the island nation.
The collapse on Monday left the entire country of about 10 million without power, according to the Union Nacional Electrica de Cuba (UNE). The state-owned company said it was working to restore electricity flows.
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It added that it was investigating what caused the “complete shutdown of the national grid”.
No oil has been imported to Cuba since January 9 amid the US pressure campaign.
Following the US military abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the government of Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez agreed to stifle oil shipments to Cuba.
US President Donald Trump subsequently threatened other countries, notably Mexico, with sanctions if they delivered fuel to the island, which relies almost solely on oil imports.
His administration has openly said it sought regime change in Communist-led Cuba, which had been under a decades-long US trade embargo prior to the most recent actions.
Reuters news agency reported that Cuba has received only two small vessels carrying oil imports this year, citing SEG ship-tracking data it reviewed.
Earlier this month, a blackout hit two-thirds of the country, mainly in the centre and west, for over a day after a breakdown at the Antonio Guiteras power plant, the island’s largest.
The US actions have further strained Cuba’s years-long economic woes, causing a humanitarian crisis amid widespread shortages of fuel, food and medicine.
The conditions have fomented rare public unrest on the island, with protesters torching a Communist Party office over the weekend. Rights groups have warned against any US attempts to rally dissent by worsening the living conditions for residents.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel confirmed last week that his government had held talks with the Trump administration.
Trump, who has previously suggested a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, said on Sunday that Cuba “wants to make a deal”.
His top officials, meanwhile, have vowed the US will continue to take a militaristic approach to Latin America, even as the US fights a war against Iran alongside Israel.
“I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do,” Trump said.
