Cuba plunged into third nationwide blackout in two weeks as power grid collapses– www.euronews.com

Cuba suffered another blackout of the National Electric System, or SEN, on Tuesday, leaving the entire island country without power, officials said, in what was the third such incident in less than two weeks as a US oil embargo stresses the island’s grid.

Since January, when US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on any nation that supplies or sells oil to the island, fuel has been scarce across Cuba, exacerbating the island’s continuing financial and economic crises.

Public transportation has largely been halted, and officials have cancelled tens of thousands of surgeries.

Cuba produces only 40% of the fuel it needs, and a solution for fuel imports is not yet in sight.

The state-owned Electric Union reported that a problem with a generating unit in the eastern province of Holguín caused “a sudden frequency change”, resulting in the SEN blackout around midday.