Cuba faces sixth nationwide blackout as electrical grid collapses

(CNN) — Cuba’s energy grid collapsed late Sunday, the state-owned electricity utility announced on social media, plunging the Caribbean country into its sixth nationwide blackout this year.

Sunday’s blackout is the first of August and comes as the US continues imposing a blockade of oil that Cuba uses to power its aging energy infrastructure.

The state utility company did not offer further details about the blackout. Efforts to restore the power grid continued on Monday afternoon, state media said.

Cuba has been facing a years-long energy crisis that worsened after the US captured Havana’s closest ally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in January and forced the acting government to stop shipping oil to the island. Mexico has also halted exports in response to US pressure.

The island of roughly 10 million people suffered two outages in March and three in July.

The rolling blackouts this summer have proved increasingly difficult for locals, many of whom are forced to wake up in the middle of the night and cook, wash, use the internet, and cool-off during the hot summer months, unsure of how many hours electricity will last.

US pressure has slowly pushed Havana into making some economic reforms.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruzden in July announced the government had approved the first foreign investment venture to import and sell fuel, Reuters reported, adding that nearly 200 businesses on the island had been given permission to engage in wholesale fuel distribution.

Lawmakers have also approved some measures authorizing private investment into the tourism industry, which has been devastated by the departure of hotel giants in response to US sanctions and flight cancellations due to fuel shortages.

Still, the government has acknowledged these are incremental, and it will take time for the sweeping economic reforms to make noticeable changes.

“The results will be achieved gradually,” Marrero said on Wednesday. “Starting now, the most important, and perhaps the most difficult, stage begins.”