Mass protests have erupted in Havana over power outages
Large-scale protests have erupted in Havana, the capital of Cuba, due to prolonged power outages and a severe fuel shortage. The Cuban government attributes the worsening situation to the U.S. fuel embargo and a lack of imported resources.
This is reported by Reuters.
Hundreds of residents from several districts of Havana took to the streets, chanting, “Turn on the lights!” and “A united people will never be defeated!” Protesters also blocked roads.
This has been the largest wave of protests in the Cuban capital since the start of the energy crisis.
The power supply situation has deteriorated sharply since January, when U.S. President Donald Trump intensified sanctions pressure on Cuba. Washington imposed an embargo and threatened tariffs on countries supplying fuel to the island.
Rodolfo Alonso, a resident of the Playa neighborhood, said he joined the protest after his neighborhood had been without power for over 40 hours.
“We started banging on pots and pans to see if they would give us electricity for at least three hours. That’s all we want. This isn’t a political issue,” he said.
In some areas of Havana, power was restored even while the protests were underway.
Numerous police officers were present at the demonstration sites, but law enforcement generally did not intervene in the protests.
Cuba’s Minister of Energy and Mining, Vicente de la O, reported that the country is in a “critical” state due to the complete depletion of diesel and fuel oil reserves.
“We have absolutely no fuel oil or diesel fuel. We have no reserves,” the minister said on state media.
According to him, the situation became critical this week: in many areas of Havana, there are power outages for 20–22 hours a day. Against the backdrop of shortages of food, medicine, and fuel, this only exacerbates social tensions in the country.
Cuban authorities are continuing negotiations on fuel imports, but the process is complicated by rising global oil prices and logistical problems stemming from the conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran.
Following the imposition of U.S. tariffs, Cuba’s main oil suppliers—Mexico and Venezuela—have effectively halted fuel shipments to the island. At the same time, the arrival of the Russian oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, which delivered crude oil to Cuba in April, provided some relief.
The Pentagon is developing a potential plan for a military operation in Cuba.
As a reminder, Trump authorized oil shipments to Cuba from Russia and other countries.
