Cuba works to restore power after nationwide blackout

Cuba began restoring electricity after a nationwide blackout, with officials saying about two-thirds of the island had power by morning as authorities investigated the cause and reported no immediate damage from a separate offshore quake.

Cuba was working to bring electricity back online following a countrywide outage, the government said, without specifying the cause. As of this morning, about two-thirds of the country had power again, according to the government.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from a 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck off Cuba’s coast earlier, authorities said.

In Havana, some neighborhoods had electricity while others remained dark. Residents voiced concern about spoiling food amid prolonged outages in the capital.

“What we fear all the time is that the blackout will drag on and we will lose the little bit that we have in the fridge, because everything is so expensive,”

said Olga Suarez, a 64-year-old retiree. She added that power cuts remain a regular feature of daily life.

“Otherwise we are used to it because here almost all the time you go to bed and wake up without electricity,”

she told AFP.

Power cuts have been frequent across the island, with some areas experiencing daily outages lasting many hours as fuel shortages strain generation capacity.

U.S. President Donald Trump issued some of his most explicit remarks yet about Cuba in comments made recently. Details on the timing and context of his statements were not immediately available.

“I do believe I’ll be … having the honour of taking Cuba,”

“Whether I free it, take it – think I could do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth. They’re a very weakened nation right now.”

The immediate focus in Havana on Tuesday was restoring service. Officials did not give a timeline for full recovery or say what triggered the nationwide failure.

Separately, a senior economic official in Cuba announced that Cuban exiles would be allowed to invest and own businesses in the country. Further details on the policy shift, including implementation and sectors affected, were not immediately available.

Authorities have urged patience as technicians work to stabilize the grid. Additional information on the cause of the outage and the pace of restoration was not immediately available.