US Fuel Blockade Reportedly Triggers Nationwide Cuba Power Grid Collapse, Protests Break in Havana

A US fuel blockade has triggered a near-total collapse of Cuba's power grid, forcing 22-hour daily blackouts and sparking widespread street protests in Havana after the energy minister admitted the island has completely run out of oil, several media outlets reported on Tuesday. Cuba's Energy Minister, Vicente de la O Levy, reportedly admitted on state television that the country has "absolutely no fuel" to power its thermal generation fleet, compounding structural issues with the island's obsolete power plants. In January, Washington cut off Cuba's primary fuel supply lines and introduced secondary sanctions aimed at disrupting oil shipments to the island. The fuel starvation has severely disrupted the island's supply-demand balance, forcing grid operator UNE to implement rolling blackouts lasting 20 to 22 hours a day across key municipal districts in Havana, the reports said. State-level efforts to resolve the infrastructure crisis remain deadlocked, with US-Cuba diplomatic talks stagnated as Washington conditions sanction relief on democratic elections and the release of political prisoners. While the United Nations General Assembly and the Cuban government have condemned.