Cuba plunged into an island wide blackout as power grid fails

By Emily Green

Published October 18, 2024 at 3:04 PM CDT

A person drives a classic American car past a floating generator that has not been producing electricity for days in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024.

MEXICO CITY - Cuba’s power grid shut down on Friday, leaving the entire country without electricity.

The massive outage leaves 10 million people on the Caribbean island without electricity.

One of the country’s largest power plants, the Antonio Guiteras power plant in the western province of Matanzas, failed shortly before midday on Friday. The failure prompted a total breakdown of Cuba’s electrical system.

The power outage comes after days of rolling blackouts.

Cuba’s prime minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, blamed the problem on deteriorating infrastructure and fuel shortages exacerbated by Hurricane Milton, which has made it difficult for fuel deliveries to reach the island.

A woman prepares to catch a tossed frisbee during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024.

The prime minister made an address on state television on Thursday evening and said the government would prioritize providing electricity to residential areas and promised shipments of fuel would arrive on the island in the coming days.

“We have to say with all transparency that we had to paralyze all fundamental entities of the economy to provide a minimum of electricity to the population" he said. This has led to the closure of public schools until Monday and of all state enterprises and industries unless they provide “vital” services.

Cuban officials have not indicated a timeline for when the power grid will be operational again. The massive blackout is a new low in a country that has already been dealing with a deepening economic crisis, compounded by the US embargo and widespread food shortages.