Cuba‘s electric grid collapsed late Friday leading to a nationwide power outage and leaving millions in the dark.
At around 8:15 p.m., an outage at the Diezmero substation in Havana caused “a significant loss of generation in western Cuba and, with it, the failure of the National Electric System,” Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said Friday on X.
Residents in Guantánamo, Artemisa, Santiago de Cuba, and Santa Clara experienced blackouts with just flickers of light, the Associated Press reported.
CUBA IS UNDER A TOTAL BLACKOUT
65 years of Communist dictatorship has destroyed the electrical grid. The regime is so incompetent & cruel it refuses to provide basic services to the population.
The Cuban people want freedom. The time is now.
— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) March 15, 2025
The majority of Cuba remains without power as of Saturday morning. Cuba’s grid operator said Saturday that it was only generating around 225 megawatts, which is 10% less of total demand, Reuters reported.
Nationwide blackouts in Cuba have become a norm as power outages are caused by a weakened electric grid and fuel shortages.
Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-FL), the only Cuban-born member of Congress, told the Washington Examiner he is calling on the Trump administration to exert pressure for a regime change in Cuba.
He said decades of communist dictatorship had played a role in destroying the country’s electric grid.
“My thoughts are that this is a completely incompetent regime. It does not protect its people. It’s time for regime change. The people of Cuba deserve better,” Giménez said.
“I’m calling on the President and the Secretary of State to exert maximum pressure on this regime so that they leave. They need to leave. It’s not a question of, can you work with them? It’s time for the regime to change. It’s time for democracy to come to Cuba,” he added.
Cuba has a one-party state led by President Miguel Diaz-Canel, elected in 2018.
