Cuba Hit By Second Nationwide Blackout

Cuba experienced its second nationwide blackout over the weekend, just hours after officials announced that power was being slowly restored. Patrick Oppmann reported for CNN.

The latest outage follows an island-wide power failure on Friday after a major power plant malfunctioned.

“At 6:15 am, a new total outage occurred in the national electroenergetic system,” read a post on the Cuba Electrical Union’s official Telegram channel. “The Electric Union is working to reestablish it.”

Previously, Cuban officials reported that small pockets of power had been restored across the island, but they did not provide numbers on how many people had their service reconnected.

Some Cubans expressed frustration on social media, noting that their power briefly returned before going out again.

The blackouts threaten to plunge the communist-run nation into a deeper crisis, as prolonged outages would disrupt water supply and cause refrigerated food to spoil. Millions have been left without power in recent days as Cuba’s aging electrical grid repeatedly collapsed.

The latest outage follows an island-wide power failure on Friday after a major power plant malfunctioned, according to the country’s energy ministry.