Cuba’s electrical grid collapses amid US oil blockade

Cuba's national electrical grid collapsed on Monday, leaving approximately 10 million people without power as the country's grid operator UNE investigates the causes of the widespread blackout. The collapse comes amid a US-imposed oil blockade that has severely damaged Cuba's already aging electrical generation system, creating a cascade of infrastructure failures. This represents the latest in a series of prolonged outages lasting hours or days that have plagued the island nation in recent weeks. The power crisis has reached a breaking point, with blackouts sparking rare violent protests last weekend in the communist-run country where public demonstrations are typically suppressed. The grid failure affects virtually the entire Cuban population and highlights how the combination of US sanctions and deteriorating infrastructure has created a humanitarian crisis on the island.