Cuba’s government says the country has fully exhausted its diesel and fuel oil reserves, triggering what officials describe as a critical collapse of the national power grid and fueling widespread protests across Havana as blackouts intensify nationwide. The crisis, which Cuban officials blame on a tightening U.S. fuel blockade, has left large parts of the island without electricity for up to 20 to 22 hours per day, according to state authorities and eyewitness accounts.
Demonstrations broke out across several Havana neighborhoods Wednesday night as frustrated residents flooded into the streets demanding electricity be restored. Protesters banged pots and pans, blocked roads with burning debris, and chanted “Turn on the lights!” while large police deployments monitored the gatherings from nearby positions.
Reuters reporters on the ground described the protests as the largest single night of demonstrations in Havana since the country’s current energy crisis began. In several locations, electricity reportedly returned while protests were underway, prompting crowds to cheer before dispersing shortly afterward.
Cuba’s Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy said earlier in the day that the island’s energy system had entered a “critical” phase due to the complete depletion of imported fuel supplies.
“We have absolutely no fuel (oil), and absolutely no diesel,” de la O Levy said during an appearance on Cuban state media. “We have no reserves.”
The minister said many districts of Havana had experienced blackouts lasting nearly an entire day as authorities struggled to stabilize the grid. Cuba’s eastern provinces were also heavily affected, with reports indicating large sections remained without power even after electricity partially returned to parts of the capital.
Residents described worsening humanitarian conditions as refrigeration systems failed, food spoiled, and unbearable heat forced many people outdoors overnight. Rodolfo Alonso, a resident of Havana’s Playa district, told Reuters his neighborhood had gone more than 40 hours without electricity before residents organized a protest.
“I live in a community where there are lots of older people, many of them bed-ridden. Our food is spoiling,” Alonso said. “We started banging pots to see if they’d give us just three hours of electricity. That’s all we want. This isn’t a political problem.”
Another Havana resident, Irailda Bravo, said she had been sleeping outside her home because of the extreme heat caused by the outages.
“We know that the situation in the country is chaotic. But we have young kids. We have to work. We have a life. We need to rest, and we can’t,” she said.
According to Cuban officials, the country is now operating its electrical grid almost entirely on domestic crude oil, natural gas, and renewable energy sources after the fuel delivered by a Russian tanker earlier this year was exhausted. De la O Levy said Cuba had installed approximately 1,300 megawatts of solar generation capacity over the past two years, but ongoing instability within the grid and shortages of battery storage systems have severely limited its effectiveness.
The government says the crisis sharply worsened after the Trump administration imposed new restrictions targeting countries that continue supplying fuel to Cuba. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January 2026 threatening tariffs against nations shipping oil to the communist-run island, part of a broader effort aimed at increasing pressure on Havana’s government.
Cuban officials said neither Mexico nor Venezuela — historically among Cuba’s largest fuel suppliers — has delivered oil shipments since the order was announced. Only one major tanker, the Russian-flagged Anatoly Kolodkin, has reportedly delivered crude oil to Cuba since December, temporarily easing shortages during April before supplies once again ran dry.
“Cuba is open to anyone that wants to sell us fuel,” de la O Levy said, adding that negotiations with potential suppliers remain ongoing despite the restrictions.
The minister also pointed to rising global oil prices and transportation costs linked to the ongoing U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran as an additional factor complicating Cuba’s ability to secure emergency imports. Increased instability in global energy markets has further strained the island’s already fragile economy, which continues to suffer from shortages of food, medicine, and transportation fuel.
The United Nations last week condemned the U.S. fuel blockade, calling it unlawful and warning that it was worsening humanitarian conditions for Cuba’s population of nearly 10 million people. The organization said the restrictions were undermining access to food, healthcare, education, water, and sanitation services.
Meanwhile, reports have emerged in recent weeks of increased U.S. military surveillance activity near Cuba. Flight-tracking data has reportedly shown multiple reconnaissance missions operating around the island as tensions between Washington and Havana continue to rise. Earlier this year, Trump stated that he expected to have “the honour of taking Cuba” during ongoing negotiations involving the island’s future.
Critics of the blockade argue the mounting fuel shortages are accelerating a humanitarian emergency that has already forced schools and universities to close intermittently, disrupted hospital operations, and severely damaged Cuba’s tourism-dependent economy. While electricity returning to some neighborhoods temporarily calmed Wednesday night’s protests, the underlying energy crisis remains unresolved as the country continues searching for fuel supplies capable of stabilizing its collapsing power grid.