Cuba Begins Restoring Power After Second Grid Collapse in a Week as Military Prepares for Possible U.S. Aggression

The Greek Courier

Sources: USA Today and NBC News

Cuba has begun restoring electricity to its national grid after a widespread collapse that marked the second major outage in a week, amid threats of takeover from the President of the United States. At the same time, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, told NBC News that Havana’s military is preparing for “the possibility of military aggression” from the United States and that it would be “naive” not to consider the risk given global events. 

The blackout, triggered late on March 21 when a major power plant in Nuevitas failed, set off a domino effect that left large parts of the country without power and forced authorities to rely on localized microsystems to sustain hospitals, water distribution, and other critical services.

The national operator, UNE, said officials have activated smaller closed-circuit microsystems across provinces to prioritize vital services while power is gradually reintroduced to wider areas. Officials reported that generation has resumed at two gas-fired plants in Varadero and Boca de Jaruco and at an oil-fired plant in Santa Cruz; authorities also brought a boiler back online at the country’s largest power station. Despite these steps, restoration is partial and vulnerable as Cuba’s aging infrastructure struggles to cope with persistent fuel shortages.

The outages come against the backdrop of a U.S. campaign that Havana calls an effective oil blockade. Cuban officials blame recent measures — including U.S. restrictions on Venezuelan oil shipments and threats of tariffs against countries that sell fuel to Cuba — for chronic fuel shortfalls that have crippled generation and disrupted air and ground transport, health services and everyday life for millions of residents.

At the same time, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, told NBC News that Havana’s military is preparing for “the possibility of military aggression” from the United States and that it would be “naive” not to consider the risk given global events. Fernández de Cossío said Cuba’s leaders hope conflict can be avoided but insisted that regime change is not part of negotiations with Washington and will not be negotiated away. “Cuba is a sovereign country and has the right to be a sovereign country,” he said in response to recent public comments by U.S. officials suggesting Cuba could be targeted next.

The political context has grown increasingly fraught since a U.S. operation in Venezuela led to the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, a close ally of Havana. Public statements by President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio warning that Cuba could be next for intervention have amplified fears in Havana and on the island. In recent weeks, Trump has made provocative remarks about “taking” Cuba and suggested he might act soon, remarks that have coincided with confidential talks between U.S. and Cuban officials aimed at defusing the crisis. 

Earlier this month, Trump said that Cuba “is going to fall pretty soon” and its leaders “want to make a deal so badly.” Later in the month, Trump told reporters he would have the “honor” of taking Cuba, saying, “I think I could do anything I want with it.” Those comments came just a few days after Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canal acknowledged that Cuban leaders were in talks with U.S. leaders to make a deal and avoid military conflict. NBC News

ANALYSIS

Cuba’s power system has been weakened for years by aging equipment and underinvestment; it typically consumes roughly 100,000 barrels of oil a day for essential services. The recent chain of events — a major plant failure in Nuevitas, the earlier collapse on March 16, and persistent fuel shortages — has prompted rare public anger and protests on the island. Cuban authorities have scrambled to keep hospitals, blood banks, and water treatment plants functioning by routing them onto microsystems and prioritizing emergency services.

Economically and socially, the consequences are acute. Blackouts hamper medical care, food distribution, transport and communications at a time when the population is already strained by shortages of basic goods. Officials from Cuba’s Red Cross and local health services have said emergency measures are in place, but the risk of recurring system-wide failures remains while fuel imports are constrained.

Diplomatic channels remain open even as rhetoric hardens. Fernández de Cossío emphasized that the composition of Cuba’s government is not negotiable, rejecting the notion that regime change would be discussed in any talks. At the same time, he pleaded for an end to coercive measures that limit Cuba’s access to fuel, warning that the blockade cannot be sustained indefinitely.

For Washington, the DILEMMA is delicate: economic pressure and threats of coercion can extract concessions but risk deepening humanitarian strain and escalating into military confrontation if rhetoric turns to action. 

For Havana, the options are equally grim — dependence on increasingly unreliable fuel flows, risky emergency fixes to a fragile grid, and the need to prepare for contingencies that range from deeper shortages to the specter of foreign aggression.

In terms of damage control, short-term fixes — microsystems, temporary plant restarts, and targeted imports if permitted — may stave off catastrophe, but they surely do not solve the structural problems of an outdated grid and a geopolitically constrained supply chain. Unless diplomatic de-escalation and new fuel arrangements are secured, Cuba faces repeated disruptions that will further erode living standards and heighten the risk of wider internal instability and possibly invasion.