Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, speaks at a press conference at the White House on May 5, 2026, in Washington (ALEX WONG)
Cuba on Wednesday accused the United States of being responsible for the “tense” situation of the island’s power grid, as Washington renewed a conditional offer of $100 million in aid.
The State Department reiterated its financial aid offer to the communist regime, subject to the aid being distributed by the Catholic Church.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents are Cuban, initially proposed this during a visit to the Vatican, claiming that Cuba rejected it, a statement denied by the Cuban government.
Tensions have escalated in recent weeks between Washington and Havana, despite ongoing talks and a high-level diplomatic meeting on April 10 in the Cuban capital.
In early May, Cuba accused Marco Rubio of “lying” after he claimed that Washington does not impose an oil blockade on the island, attributing the Cuban energy crisis to poor internal economic management.
Since the fall of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a Cuban ally captured by US forces in early January, Washington has applied maximum pressure on the island, already under a US embargo for over six decades.
In late January, Donald Trump signed a decree declaring Cuba, located 150 km from Florida, an “extraordinary threat” to the United States, threatening retaliation against any country supplying or selling oil to Havana.
In recent days, the situation of the power grid on the island of 9.6 million people has worsened, with long blackouts and minimal electricity production. According to official figures from AFP, 65% of Cuban territory experienced simultaneous power outages on Tuesday.
Havana is facing power cuts exceeding 20 hours a day, while provinces endure days-long outages. Most Cubans spend more time without electricity than with it.
“This dramatic deterioration has one cause: the genocidal energy blockade imposed on our country by the United States,” denounced Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
– “Exhausted” –
Since late January, only one Russian oil tanker has been allowed to dock in Cuba with 100,000 tons of crude, temporarily improving the situation, but now declared “exhausted” by Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy on state television.
“The situation is very tense, the heat continues to rise, the effect of the blockade is causing us a lot of harm, and we still don’t receive any fuel,” added the minister, with electricity consumption for air conditioning rising with the summer temperatures.
For the Cuban president, the “energy persecution” against Cuba is part of a “perverse plan” by Washington aimed at the suffering of the Cuban people to turn them against the government.
On Wednesday, dozens of people, some banging pots and pans, protested against the blackouts in San Miguel del Padron, a peripheral neighborhood of Havana, as reported by an AFP resident.
In the evening, residents in several neighborhoods of the capital also banged pots and pans to express their frustration. “Bring us light!” shouted Playa residents, a district in western Havana, observed by AFP.
The country remains “upright” and not “bankrupt,” declared the Cuban president, referring to a term used by Donald Trump on Tuesday, assuring that the United States will soon “engage” with Cuba.
The island’s electricity production depends largely on seven aging thermal power plants supplied with locally produced crude oil. There is also a network of backup generators powered by imported diesel, currently inactive.
Since late 2024, the island has experienced seven generalized power outages, including two in March of this year alone.
To reduce its reliance on oil, the Cuban government is installing solar parks with support from China.
lis-jb/lpa
