The latest islandwide grid collapse in Cuba follows a string of nationwide blackouts late last year that plunged the country’s frail power generating system into near-total disarray, stressed by fuel shortages, natural disaster and economic crises.
Most Cubans outside Havana have already been living for months with rolling blackouts that peaked at 20 hours a day in recent weeks.
In Havana, a handful of hotels used generators to keep the lights on late on Saturday for tourists. But street and stop lights on even major boulevards were blacked out, residential areas were largely dark and most restaurants and bars were closed.
The country’s transportation ministry said bus travel, as well as flights in and out of the country’s various airports, continued unfettered by the grid collapse.
Source: Cuba struggles to restore power to millions as night falls