Cuba experienced its sixth major blackout of 2026 on Friday when the country's entire electricity grid suffered "total disconnection", leaving millions without power. The outage, triggered by a transmission fault and poor weather conditions, underscores the severity of the island's deepening energy crisis rooted in ageing infrastructure, chronic fuel shortages, and the impact of US sanctions and an oil blockade imposed since the start of the year. Power was gradually restored to priority areas including hospitals and water pumping stations by late evening, but the incident has intensified concerns about the nation's ability to sustain basic services.

The blackout reflects Cuba's structural energy vulnerabilities and geopolitical pressures. The country relies on fuel imports and previously depended on Venezuela for approximately 35,000 barrels of oil daily—roughly half its needs—but this supply was cut off after the US seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. The repeated outages have cascading effects: hospitals struggle to function, schools and government offices close, and shortages of food and medicine have worsened. Cuban residents reported increasing frustration, with some experiencing back-to-back outages lasting 24 hours or more. The crisis has prompted rare public protests despite the legal risks, while Havana blames the Trump administration's sanctions and tariffs, whilst Washington attributes the problem to poor internal management.