The United States' neighbour Cuba's ongoing energy crisis deepened on Monday after the island nation experienced the third major blackout over the past four months. Officials said that the outage affected the entire island of about 11 million people.
The blackout comes as Cuba's aging power grids continue to struggle under a deep energy shortage. The situation has worsened amid US-imposed oil sanctions that have limited the country's fuel imports.
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According to news agency AP, Cuba produces about 40% of its petroleum and generates part of its own electricity. However, this has not been enough to meet its growing demand.
Following the latest outage, the Cuban government noted that the national electrical system experienced a “complete disconnection.” It said that no failures were reported in operating power units, and the crews are gradually restarting thermoelectric plants. The blackout has left families and businesses in crisis, hospitals without power and forced the government to postpone thousands of critical surgeries. This has also raised fears of worsening economic collapse of the nation.
The Cuban government has blamed the crisis partly on the US-imposed energy blockade. This follows after US President Donald Trump, in January, warned of tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba. Further, critical oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba were also halted after the US launched a military operation in the same month and captured its then-president, Nicolas Maduro.
What Does Trump Want?
Amid these developments, Trump on Monday reiterated the possibility of a “friendly takeover of Cuba.” He said that he believes he might have the “honour of taking Cuba.”
“I mean, whether I free it, take it. I think I could do anything I want with it,” Trump said, calling Cuba a “very weakened nation.”
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This comes even as Cuba and the US are engaging in talks to improve relations amid one of the most contentious periods since Fidel Castro's rise to power. One of the key demands of the Trump administration has been that Cuba release political prisoners and move toward political and economic liberalisation in exchange for lifting sanctions.
The US officials are also pushing for Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel to step down, but have left the next steps to Havana, according to Reuters.
Diaz‑Canel, who became president in 2018, has said that talks must respect equality, sovereignty and the political systems of both countries. Meanwhile, Trump has escalated the pressure, suggesting Cuba could be “next” after Venezuela.
While many US presidents have long opposed Cuba's Communist government, any potential invasion has never been on the cards. This is mainly due to Washington honouring its promise not to invade the island, stemming from the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis agreement with the then Soviet Union.
Reuters reported that the White House has not clarified any legal basis for intervention.
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