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Cuba, facing an ongoing energy crisis exacerbated by a de facto U.S. blockade on fuel shipments, suffered a nationwide power outage on Monday.
Cuba’s Ministry of Energy announced that the country’s power grid had completely collapsed. The country’s electricity transmission operator said it was investigating the cause.
Cuba has experienced several nationwide power outages over the past few years as its aging electricity infrastructure struggles to meet demand.
Cuba’s power crisis worsened this year after the United States forced Cuba’s main suppliers to halt oil shipments. There were at least two total power outages within a week in March.
Energy shortages are straining essential services such as education, transportation and health care.
New U.S. sanctions have also further weakened Cuba’s economy, preventing many tourists from visiting the country.
The United States claims the economic stranglehold is aimed at forcing the Cuban government to pry open the island’s hermetic political system and allow foreign direct investment.
Last month, Cuba’s parliament approved wide-ranging reforms aimed at opening up the economy. The foreign trade minister told CNN that the measure was not passed in response to external pressure.
A spokesperson for the US State Department said the reforms were a “low-key, long-awaited, but ultimately cosmetic, signal” by the government.
U.S. and Cuban officials have held multiple talks over the past few weeks. In May, CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with top Cuban spy leaders in Havana, and the commander of the U.S. Southern Command met with senior Cuban military officials on the border of the Guantanamo Bay naval base.
The United States has accused Cuban officials of setting up Russian and Chinese listening posts on the island and interfering with U.S. interests in the region. Cuba denies the allegations and is pushing back against the United States.
When CNN asked Cuba’s Foreign Trade and Investment Minister Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga about the humanitarian crisis in Cuba, he accused the US of collective punishment and said: “What is happening today against our people is genocide.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
