Cuba hit by nationwide blackout as aging grid falters

Cuba’s national power grid collapsed, plunging the island into a nationwide blackout with no immediate cause or restoration timeline given. Prior outages stemmed from damaged transformers, circuit failures and planned cuts due to limited generating capacity. The crisis, fueled by aging, undermaintained plants and shortages of fuel and replacement parts, has disrupted transport, water, communications and medical services, while authorities try to isolate hospitals and essential facilities as they gradually reconnect power. The government blames the US embargo for fuel cuts, though others cite decades of underinvestment and mismanagement; disruptions from Venezuela and Mexico have further strained supplies in a year already marked by frequent blackouts.