<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Millions of people in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/cuba" rel="" target="" title="Cuba"><span>Cuba</span></a><span> remained without power on Saturday after a failure of the nation's electric grid left the island in the dark the previous night.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The massive blackout is the fourth in the last six months as a severe economic crisis plagues the Caribbean country. The Ministry of Energy and Mines, in a statement on social media, attributed the latest outage to a failure at a substation in the suburbs of Havana, the capital.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Internet and telephone service were intermittent about Saturday evening after power went out around 8 pm local time on Friday.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/melbourne-bushfire-montrose-dr-ken-leversha-reserve-warning/17511f05-a908-44bf-8102-43ff3f79f188" target="_blank" title="Helicopter water bombers called in to battle out-of-control blaze"><strong><span>Helicopter water bombers called in to battle out-of-control blaze</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on his X account that authorities are "working intensely to restore stability" to the power system.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lázaro Guerra, director of electricity at the ministry, said on national television that power was already being generated to support vital services such as hospitals.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A statement from the Cuban Electricity Union released Saturday said the strategy was to create "microsystems" that will connect to each other to gradually restore electricity across the country.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/cuba-suffers-major-power-outage-after-substation-failure-leaves-millions-without-electricity/d1369399-ea80-4d0f-8af8-403cff882a30" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Several of these were already operating in the provinces of Guantánamo, Santiago, Las Tunas and Pinar del Río.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In Sancti Spíritus, the provincial energy company reported on its Telegram channel that more than 200,000 customers in that area had electricity thanks to these microsystems.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Many Cuban families use electric equipment to prepare their meals. The outage could cause food to thaw in refrigerators and possibly spoil due to the island's tropical climate.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"When I was about to start cooking and making some spaghetti, the power went out. "And now what?" Cecilia Duquense, a 79-year-old housewife who lives in the working-class neighborhood of Central Havana, said Saturday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In Havana, people were shopping for food Saturday. Businesses were open, although some were operating using batteries or small home generators.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We are very worried that the food will go bad" in the refrigerator if the blackout lasts much longer, said Frank García, a 26-year-old marker worker in Havana.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Gas stations were also open, but the tunnel that runs under Havana Bay and connects the city to the outskirts was dark.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Cuba suffered similar blackouts in October, November and December. The latest was the first of 2025 but in mid-February authorities suspended classes and work activities for two days due to a shortage of electricity generation that exceeded 50 per cent in the country.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Experts have said the electricity disruptions are a result of fuel shortages at power plants and aging infrastructure. Most plants have been in operation for more than 30 years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The outages come as Cubans are experiencing a severe economic crisis that analysts have blamed on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a program of domestic measures that triggered inflation and, above all, the tightening of sanctions by the United States.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><strong><span>Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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