President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged the risk of attacks and said the government is preparing for potential scenarios, including humanitarian considerations.

Cuba is facing its worst economic crisis in over three decades, with frequent outages and shortages of essential goods.

A nationwide blackout hit Cuba on a recent Saturday, marking the third power outage in March and the island’s third total grid collapse in short succession, highlighting aging infrastructure and ongoing sanctions-driven fuel shortages.

Cuban officials and foreign observers note long-standing outages, with the government blaming U.S. sanctions and the embargo for hampering maintenance, while critics cite chronic underinvestment and decaying thermoelectric plants aging decades old.

Oil deliveries from Venezuela have been disrupted for over two months, and U.S. pressure threats, including possible sanctions on oil suppliers, have intensified the energy squeeze.

The crisis is described as severe and ongoing, with little clarity on when restoration will be complete.

The deteriorating state of aging infrastructure—poor maintenance and underinvestment—exacerbates the crisis.

Photographs from the capital show civilians navigating dark streets, waiting in cars, and spending nights along the Malecon, underscoring the disruption to daily life.

Outages and fuel shortages are crippling everyday life: food refrigeration fails, communications networks drop, hospitals scale back services, schools suspend classes, and waste collection slows.

Past outages and decaying infrastructure are highlighted as background factors, alongside the ongoing effort to restore electricity and stabilize the grid.

Oil shortages and power outages are driving food spoilage, unreliable communications, reduced hospital services, closed schools, and mounting street trash.

Public dissent has erupted in places like central Havana and Morón, with protests against authorities; officials warned that unauthorized demonstrations are illegal and subject to jail.