Cuba was hit by an islandwide blackout on Friday for the second time this week. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
The nation of nearly 10 million people is grappling with a crumbling power grid and fuel shortages stemming from a U.S. energy blockade. While total blackouts have become increasingly common, back-to-back ones within a week are unusual. Cuba's Electric Union confirmed the outage on X.
Officials had also confirmed the first total power outage on Monday, though its cause remains unclear. An investigation was said to be underway.
Fuel has been running out since January, when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country selling or providing oil to the island, deepening the economic crisis. Public transportation has largely halted, and tens of thousands of surgeries have been canceled.
Cuba produces only 40% of the fuel it needs, while 730,000 barrels of oil delivered by a Russian tanker in late March ran out by the end of April. The government has also been rationing power with intentional outages that can stretch over 24 consecutive hours.
A blackout in mid-May affected the island's eastern provinces, while a blackout in mid-March struck the entire island.