Cuba’s Power Grid Collapses As Trump Pressures Communist Regime

Cuba’s entire electrical grid failed Monday, leaving roughly 11 million people without power on the communist-ruled island as authorities began restoration efforts.

The country’s Ministry of Energy and Mines confirmed a total shutdown of the national power system in a post on X. The ministry later claimed microsystems were coming back online “in various territories” as officials worked to restore power.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Friday that the island had gone three months without a single oil delivery, The Associated Press (AP) reported. He added that the power grid was using solar energy, natural gas and thermoelectric plants and that government has also put tens of thousands of surgical procedures on hold.

The collapse came a week after another massive failure knocked out electricity across Cuba’s western provinces and left millions in the dark, the AP reported. (RELATED: Cuba Begs For American Exile Money As Communist Regime Faces Crisis)

Cubans have grown increasingly vocal in their frustration. Footage online showed residents across Havana and other cities taking to banging pots and pans in recent days in a form of protest known as a “cacerolazo,” CBS News reported. Power failures have also served as a catalyst for anti-government unrest on the island, with protests erupting in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

BREAKING: Officials in Cuba report an island-wide blackout in the country of some 11 million people as its energy and economic crises deepen. https://t.co/wT1MJYLdFC

— The Associated Press (@AP) March 16, 2026

President Donald Trump’s administration has tightened its grip on Havana’s energy lifeline. Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 29 declaring a national emergency over Cuba and calling its government “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security, according to the White House. The order initially authorized tariffs against products from any nation supplying the island with oil. The Supreme Court later invalidated that tariff authority under IEEPA, forcing the administration to roll back the tariffs, but the national emergency designation remains in force, CiberCuba reported.

Venezuela, once Cuba’s primary oil supplier, stopped all shipments after U.S. forces arrested then-President Nicolás Maduro in early January, the AP reported. Cuba generates roughly 40% of its own petroleum but falls far short of meeting domestic demand while facing a degrading electricity grid.

Díaz-Canel confirmed Friday that Havana had opened talks with Washington. Earlier in 2026, a U.S. official told CBS News that Washington is not trying to topple Cuba’s government but instead wants its leadership to move away from one-party communist rule.