Officials in Cuba reported an islandwide blackout on Monday (March 16, 2026) in the country of some 11 million people as its energy and economic crises deepen and its power grid continues to crumble.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines on X noted a “complete disconnection” of the country’s electrical system and said it was investigating, noting there were no failures in the units that were operating when the grid collapsed.
Lázaro Guerra, the Ministry’s Electricity Director, told state media late on Monday (March 16) that crews were trying to restart several thermoelectric plants, which are key to restoring power. (Text: AP)
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Reuters
City lights during a blackout, leaving around 10 million people without power amid a U.S.-imposed oil blockade, in Havana on March 16, 2026. While Cuba produces 40% of its petroleum and has been generating its own power, it hasn’t been sufficient to meet demand as its electric grid continues to crumble.
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RAMON ESPINOSA
People walk on a street during a blackout in Havana on March 16, 2026. A massive outage over a week ago affected the island’s west, leaving millions without power. Another major blackout affected western Cuba in early December.
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AP
Street vendors chat on the Malecón during a blackout in Havana on March 16, 2026. This was the third major blackout in Cuba over the past four months.
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AP
People walk on the street during a blackout in Havana on March 16, 2026. President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Friday (March 13) said that the government has had to postpone surgeries for tens of thousands of people.
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Reuters
Gladys Valdes, 76, prepares coffee during the blackout, in Havana on March 16, 2026. “Cuba right now is in very bad shape,” President Donald Trump said, a day after Cuba’s third nationwide blackout in four months as the socialist island’s economy suffers under U.S. sanctions.
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Reuters
People sit on the side of a street during a blackout. The government also has blamed its woes on a U.S. energy blockade after President Donald Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba.
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Reuters
A person stands on a balcony during a blackout as Cuba’s national electric grid collapsed, in Havana on March 16, 2026. The Trump administration is demanding that Cuba release political prisoners and move toward political and economic liberalisation in return for a lifting of sanctions.
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Reutes
A motortaxi drives on a street during a blackout, in Havana on March 16, 2026. William LeoGrande, a professor at American University who has tracked Cuba for years, said the country’s energy grid hasn’t been maintained properly and its infrastructure is “way past its normal useful life.”
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Reuters
People gather on a street during a blackout as Cuba’s, in Havana on March 16, 2026. President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Friday said the island had not received oil shipments in three months and was operating on solar power, natural gas and thermoelectric plants.
Photo:
Reuters
A man uses a flashlight during a blackout as Cuba’s, in Havana on March 16, 2026. A massive outage over a week ago affected the island’s west, leaving millions without power. Another major blackout affected western Cuba in early December.
Photo:
Reuters
A view of Havana city with the National Capitol building in the background, as Cuba reconnected its electrical grid across much of the island, according to the Energy and Mines Ministry, in Havana, Cuba on March 17, 2026. Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said on X that the island had restored the electrical system in the western town of Pinar del Rio and the southeastern province of Holguin and that some “microsystems” were beginning to operate in various territories.
Published – March 18, 2026 12:52 pm IST
