Cuba accused the United States on Wednesday of being responsible for the “widespread” situation of the country’s electrical network, as Washington renewed a conditional offer of $100 million in aid.
In a statement, the State Department reiterated its offer of financial assistance to the communist regime, subject to the condition that this aid be distributed by the Catholic Church.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents are of Cuban origin, had initially made this proposal during a visit to the Vatican before asserting that Cuba had rejected it, a claim denied by the Cuban government.
Tensions have escalated in recent weeks between Washington and Havana, despite ongoing talks between the two countries and a high-level diplomatic meeting in the Cuban capital on April 10.
At the beginning of May, Cuba accused Marco Rubio of “lying” after he claimed that Washington does not impose an oil blockade on the island, attributing Cuba’s energy crisis to poor internal economic management.
Since the fall of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a Cuban ally captured by U.S. forces in early January, Washington has pursued a policy of maximum pressure on the island, which has been under American embargo for over six decades.
Donald Trump signed an executive order at the end of January declaring that Cuba, located 150 km off the coast of Florida, poses an “extraordinary threat” to the United States. He threatened to retaliate against any country wishing to supply or sell oil to Havana.
In recent days, the situation of the island’s power grid has become critically dire, with frequent blackouts and electricity production at an all-time low. Official figures compiled by AFP show that 65% of Cuban territory experienced simultaneous power cuts on Tuesday.
Havana is facing outages lasting over 20 hours a day, while in the provinces, power outages extend for entire days. Most Cubans spend more time without electricity than with it.
“The dramatic worsening has only one cause: the genocidal energy blockade imposed by the United States on our country,” denounced Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
Since late January, only one Russian oil tanker has been allowed to dock in Cuba with 100,000 tons of crude oil, temporarily improving the situation but now running “dry,” according to Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy.
For the Cuban president, the “energy persecution” against Cuba is part of a “malicious plan” by Washington aimed at causing the suffering of the Cuban people to turn them against the government.
On Wednesday, dozens of people, some banging on pots and pans, protested against the outages in San Miguel del Padron, a suburb of Havana.
The country remains “standing” and is not “bankrupt,” declared the Cuban president, in response to a statement made by Donald Trump suggesting that the U.S. would soon “talk” with Cuba.
Cuba’s electricity production largely relies on seven aging thermal power plants supplied with locally produced oil, along with a network of backup generators fueled by imported diesel, which are currently out of commission.
Since late 2024, the island has experienced seven widespread power outages, including two in March alone.
To reduce its oil dependency, the Cuban government is installing solar parks with support from China.
