Cuba Suffers Second Islandwide Blackout in a Week

Cuba's National Electroenergetic System collapsed again at 4:30 pm, the fourth total blackout of 2026 and the second in under a week, as a record 2,341 MW deficit — the largest ever recorded — left roughly 73% of the population without power. UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk repeated his warning that "children are dying because doctors lack access to essential medical supplies," while Secretary of State Rubio insisted "we've done nothing punitive against the Cuban regime." The blackout deepened an already dire stretch: aging thermoelectric plants including Antonio Guiteras remain unreliable, and 106 distributed generation plants stayed offline for lack of fuel.