Electricity Restored to 11 Cuba Provinces After Nationwide Blackout

Cuba experienced a nationwide blackout that lasted nearly 24 hours, affecting 11 of its 15 provinces before partial power restoration began. The outage, caused by a malfunction at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the country's largest, highlighted the fragility and outdated state of Cuba's national electric system. Essential services such as hospitals, airports, and water pumping remained operational through backup systems, but most residents, including those in Havana, were left without electricity for extended periods. The government has initiated a gradual process of restoring power, including creating 'microsystems' to support critical operations, but full restoration could take several days, as seen in previous blackouts. This incident marks the fifth such blackout this year amid Cuba's ongoing economic crisis and fuel shortages, which have severely impacted the country's power generation capacity. Public frustration is mounting due to the lack of transparency and repeated power failures that disrupt daily life and economic activity.