Cuba

Cuba's Grid Collapses Again Amid Oil Crisis, Protests

Is Cuba's power crisis the result of U.S. sanctions or decades of communist mismanagement?

Published 3 hours ago

Cuba's Grid Collapses Again Amid Oil Crisis, Protests

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Above: People walk on a street without electricity during a nationwide blackout in Havana on March 21, 2026. Image credit: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-government narrative

Cuba's blackouts are the direct result of U.S. economic warfare — a deliberate fuel blockade designed to strangle the island into submission. Hospitals are going dark, water pumps are shutting down and hunger is spreading because American sanctions have cut off the oil Cuba needs to keep the lights on. This is not collateral damage; it's a superpower using energy as a weapon against 10 million civilians.

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Government-critical narrative

Cuba's grid has been collapsing since 1993 — long before any Trump policy existed — so blaming U.S. sanctions is pure regime propaganda. The communist government spent decades building luxury hotels for tourists while letting the power infrastructure rot, even passing Decree 110 to legally guarantee hotels electricity while Cuban families sat in 90-degree darkness for 72 hours. This crisis has one cause: 67 years of a regime that chose repression over its own people.

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