Cuba says US embargo prevents it from repairing its power grid

Relations between Washington and Havana have become strained since Donald Trump's return to the White House in January. The Republican president reinstated the communist island on the US blacklist of "state sponsors of terrorism" and tightened its economic embargo, in effect since 1962.

"Between March 2024 and February 2025, the blockade caused damages and losses estimated at $7,556 billion," affecting all economic and social sectors in the country, Bruno Rodriguez said at a press conference.

As the country's energy infrastructure suffers from advanced deterioration, the Cuban foreign minister stressed that the financial impact of the embargo had increased by 49% compared to last year, when it was estimated at $5 billion.

In addition to the five massive power outages that have affected the entire country in less than a year, Cuba's 9,7 million people have been experiencing very long daily blackouts for several months. In August, they averaged fifteen hours per day.

According to the minister, a five-day embargo represents damages of $100 million, equivalent to the cost of repairing one of the country's major power plants, and a twelve-day embargo results in a loss of $250 million, which the country would need for the maintenance of its electrical infrastructure.

The latter, dilapidated, suffers from frequent breakdowns. The country's eight power plants were almost all inaugurated in the 1980s and 1990s. They regularly break down or have to be shut down for long weeks of maintenance.

The recent installation of 30 photovoltaic parks, supported by China, out of the 52 planned for this year, has not yet succeeded in reducing power cuts.

Bruno Rodriguez also accused US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American, of implementing a "personal and violent" agenda against the island to bring about regime change.