As a result of the complete failure of the National Electricity System in Cuba, a large-scale power outage occurred throughout the island for the second time in the last week.

According to the national press, the Cuban Electricity Union (UNE) announced in a statement on its social media account that the nationwide outage is the fifth major electricity system collapse in 2026.

While UNE reported that the National Electricity System was completely disabled for the second time in the last week, it did not provide information about the cause of the failure.

While power outages exceeded 35 hours in some parts of the capital Havana, citizens were left without electricity for three days in some states of the island.

The Cuban government acknowledged that the National Electric System is in a "critical" and "extremely tense" situation due to US sanctions in the field of energy and the electrical infrastructure that has reached the end of its technological life.

"Cuba is not a threat, the real threat is the blockade"

Meanwhile, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez reacted to the USA in his statement on the social media platform of US-based company X.

Condemning the additional sanctions decisions announced by the USA on July 13, Rodriguez said:

"The US government continues to escalate its war against the Cuban people, their living conditions and livelihoods. The additional unilateral coercive decisions announced on July 13 are a clear indication of the complicity and genocidal intent of the US rulers in punishing the entire population of the country. Cuba is not a threat, the real threat is the blockade."

Electricity service had been gradually restored following the complete collapse of the National Electric System on July 6.

UNE, affiliated with the Ministry of Energy and Mines, announced that all states were reconnected to the national grid after an outage that lasted approximately 36 hours.

While the Cuban economy has been struggling with a deep crisis for the last 6 years, there are power outages and shortages of basic products in the country. The decline in production, high inflation and the depreciating peso further aggravate economic problems.

Experts predict that the Cuban economy will shrink by 7.2 percent in 2026.