Cuba's power grid 'critical' as US blocks fuel shipments

Power outages in Cuba worsened on Thursday as Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy told state television that oil reserves had "run out" amid an ongoing US blockade of oil shipments. 

The minister said Cuba's power grid had entered a "critical" state.

"We have absolutely no fuel [oil], and absolutely no diesel ... The impact of the blockade is indeed causing us significant harm... because we are still not receiving fuel."

Cuba cut off from oil and gas

For four months, the US has blocked fuel imports to Cuba in a bid to pressure the Communist-run government. In January 2026, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order threatening tariffs on any country supplying Cuba with fuel. 

Since then, Cuba's top suppliers, Venezuela and Mexico, have not sent Cuba fuel. The only delivery to Cuba since December has been from a single Russian-flagged oil tanker that delivered a shipment of crude oil in April.

De la O Levy said Thursday that Cuba was continuing negotiations to import fuel despite the blockade, but added rising oil prices brought on by the Iran war are complicating matters. 

"Cuba is open to anyone that wants ​to sell us fuel," the minister ‌said.

The United Nation's criticized the blockade last week, calling it unlawful and saying it obstructs the "Cuban people's right to development while undermining their rights to food, education, health, and water and sanitation."

Protests and blackouts

The blockade has crippled public services and disrupted daily life on the island of around 10 million people, with rolling blackouts increasing this week. 

Many districts in the capital, Havana, were without power for 20 hours a day, the minister said. The latest power shutdown on Thursday was reported in parts of eastern Cuba. In several provinces, blackouts can last for days.

On Wednesday, protests broke out in Havana, which is also suffering from food and medicine shortages. 

Reuters news agency, citing witnesses, reported crowds of hundreds of people taking to the streets in Havana's outskirts, blocking roads with burning piles of rubbish, banging pots and shouting "Turn on the lights!"

US pressure on Havana

After capturing Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January, Trump has mused that the US could "take over" Cuba. Maduro had been an important backer of the regime in Havana.

On Wednesday, the US State Department again offered $100 million (€84.86 million) in humanitarian aid to the Cuban people "that would be distributed in coordination with the Catholic Church and other reliable independent humanitarian organizations."

"The decision rests with the Cuban regime to accept our offer of assistance or deny critical living-saving aid and ultimately be accountable to the Cuban people for standing in the way of critical assistance," a State Department statement read. 

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Wednesday blamed a US-imposed "genocidal energy blockade" for Cuba's woes

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American and a fierce critic of the government established by Fidel Castro, said Cuba's problems were based on systemic corruption at the hands of the military. 

"It's a broken, nonfunctional economy, and it's impossible to change it," Rubio told US broadcaster Fox News earlier this week. "I don't think we're going to be able to change the trajectory of Cuba as long as these people are in charge in that regime."

Is Donald Trump going to take on Cuba next?

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Edited by: Wesley Dockery