Cuba's national grid collapses, leaving millions without power

HAVANA – Cuba's national electric grid collapsed March 16, the country's grid operator said, leaving around 10 million people without power amid a U.S.-imposed oil blockade that has crippled the island's already obsolete generation system.

Grid operator UNE said on social media it is investigating the causes of the blackout, the latest in a series of widespread outages that last for hours or days, sparking a rare violent protest in the communist-run country over the weekend.

The United States has ratcheted up pressure this year on long-time foe Cuba since capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro – Cuba's most important foreign benefactor – in January.

​President Donald Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened to slap tariffs on any country that sells oil to Cuba, strangling the Caribbean island's already antiquated grid.

Cuba said on Friday that it has entered into talks with the United States in hopes of defusing the crisis. Trump has said in recent weeks that Cuba is on the verge of collapse and is eager to make a deal with the United States.

System running on fumes

Cuba has received only two small vessels carrying oil imports this year, according to LSEG ship tracking data seen by Reuters on Monday.

The first tanker discharged fuel in January at the Havana port, coming from Mexico, which had previously been a regular supplier to the island. The second vessel, from Jamaica, discharged liquefied petroleum gas – known as cooking gas – in February.

Venezuela, once Cuba's main oil supplier, has sent no fuel to the island this year.

Venezuela's state company PDVSA last month loaded gasoline into a tanker that had previously been used to transport fuel to Cuba; however, the vessel has not left Venezuelan waters, PDVSA documents and tanker monitoring data showed.

No large imports have entered this year through Cuba's main hubs of Matanzas or Moa, which typically handle crude for refining and fuel oil for power generation, according to satellite images analyzed by TankerTrackers.com. The ports of Havana and Cienfuegos have also not had import activity in more than a month, it added.