Cuba has reconnected its electricity grid to the rest of the country, the Department of Energy and Mines said Tuesday morning, hours after US President Donald Trump preached to the communist-run island that he can do whatever he wants with Cuba.
Cuba’s national power went out on Monday, leaving about 10 million people without power amid a US-imposed oil embargo that has crippled the island’s already-defunct power generation system.
Energy officials said they had restored power from the westernmost state of Pinar del Rio to Holguin, on the eastern tip of the island. Santiago de Cuba, the country’s second largest city, is offline, reports say.
Millions of people in Cuba were left without electricity after the national power grid collapsed on Monday. Cuba’s energy infrastructure is already aging, but US threats to tax countries that supply Cuba with oil have made the situation worse.
Electricity production, hampered by fuel shortages and outdated power plants, remains severely depressed across the island despite efforts to restore electricity, providing scarce relief to Cubans already facing months of blackouts.
Most Cubans, including those in the capital Havana, were seeing 16 hours or more of power outages a day, even before the latest grid collapse, testing the resilience of citizens accustomed to hardship.
“It’s affecting all aspects of our lives,” said Havana resident Carlos Montes de Oca, who said the outages have cut off basic necessities like food and water.
“What we can do is sit, wait, and read the book,” he said. “Otherwise, the pressure gets to you.”
Trump is threatening to be taken over
Cuba has not said what caused Monday’s nationwide grid outage, the first such outage since the United States cut off Cuban oil supplies to Venezuela and threatened to slap tariffs on countries that supply the country with fuel.
Cuba and the United States have opened talks aimed at easing the crisis. Neither side has provided details of ongoing talks, although Trump has expressed Cuba as eager to strike a deal.
Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both said Tuesday that the administration sees the island nation as the next country where the US can expand its influence.
Calling Cuba a ‘failed nation’ and a ‘beautiful place,’ US President Donald Trump said on Monday he thought he would have the ‘glory’ to take over Cuba, adding that he could do whatever he wanted with it.
“Cuba right now is in a very bad situation,” Trump said. “And we will do something with Cuba soon.”
This comes after Trump said on Monday that he may have a “right to take over Cuba.”
He had previously said that Cuba might be subject to a “friendly takeover,” but then said, “It might not be a friendly takeover.” He also said, “We are talking to Cuba, but we will do Iran before Cuba.”
Marianela Alvarez, a 50-year-old civil servant, was surprised by Trump’s suggestion on Monday that he can do whatever he wants with Cuba.
“I wish Trump would understand, he should leave us alone,” Alvarez said.
Cubans support dialogue with the US
Luis Enrique Garcia, 55, said dialogue is very important.
He gave an example of the acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, who has been very cooperative with the Americans since the ouster of Maduro.
“He said, ‘I don’t want war in my country, let’s have a dialogue,'” said Garcia.
Amed Echenique, 26, expressed support for bilateral talks, but also said, “I don’t trust Trump as a person.”
Like many Cubans, Barbara Rodriguez, 58, blamed the poor state of Cuba on Americans. Since the 1960s, Washington has maintained the toughest and longest-running bilateral economic sanctions against Cuba in the world.
“We are tired of the embargo that has been imposed on us for 60 years. And now the embargo is increasing because of the fuel issue; they are not allowing any ships to enter Cuba with fuel,” said Rodriguez. “No one can improve like this.”
Much of Cuba was overcast Monday morning as a cold front approached the island, casting a shadow over solar parks that account for a third or more of daytime generation.
Cuba has received only two small oil tankers this year, according to LSEG vessel tracking data seen by Reuters on Monday.
Monday’s blackout overshadowed Cuba’s invitation to Cuban Americans and other exiles living abroad to invest and own businesses on the island, an apparent goodwill gesture amid negotiations.
‘I’m too old to continue suffering’
Pedro Rámos, a 75-year-old retired mechanic who lives with his wife in a modest apartment in Old Havana, was boiling three pieces of chicken in an attempt to save them from being ruined by a power outage.
“I want to see if we can save food,” he said. “Two people over the age of 70 live here…it’s too bad.”
“The power outage is driving me crazy,” said Dalba Obiedo, 48. “Last night, I fell down a flight of 27 steps. Now I have to have surgery on my jaw. I fell because the lights went out.”
Havana resident Tomás David Velázquez Felipe, 61, said the ongoing problems make him think that Cubans who can leave the island should pack up and leave.
“This little we have will go to waste,” he said. “Our people are too old to continue suffering.”
