Cuba restores power after nationwide blackout

Cuba was working Saturday to restore power after its seventh major blackout of the year, with state-run utility UNE saying 48 percent of its customers in Havana had regained electricity.

UNE said the restoration was being done gradually as conditions permitted. The latest nationwide outage, the 12th since late 2024, began after a failure in transmission lines combined with unstable weather conditions, the utility said Friday.

The blackout first hit five provinces in eastern Cuba, including Havana, and then spread to the rest of the country. In the previous major outage in early August, UNE took 36 hours to fully restore power.

Cuba, home to more than nine million people, faces frequent power cuts because of aging thermoelectric plants and fuel shortages affecting power stations and backup generators. Recent blackouts have lasted more than 30 hours in Havana and sometimes more than 60 hours in outlying provinces.

Residents told AFP the power cuts were also affecting water supply, cooking gas and mobile phone service. Havana blames the wider crisis on US punitive measures, while Washington attributes Cuba's hardship to poor domestic management.

An independent study released this week by the Christian Center for Reflection and Dialogue said 66 percent of Cubans live in poverty, up from 45 percent in mid-2025. Study coordinator Mayra Espina told AFP the findings gave an indicative picture that the problem was growing.