Cuba’s national electric grid collapses, reason unknown

By Dave Sherwood

HAVANA, July 6 (Reuters) – Cuba’s national electric grid collapsed on Monday at midday, the country’s grid operator said, leaving around 10 million people on the Caribbean island without power.

Grid operator UNE said it was investigating the cause of the nationwide blackout.

Cuba has for months suffered from hours-long, and more recently, days-long power outages linked in part to a decrepit grid and a U.S. imposed oil blockade that has cut off the island’s fuel supply.

The nationwide outage is more bad news for Cubans already exhausted from rolling blackouts that make it impossible for many to work or sleep in the Caribbean summer heat.

Cuba has ​frequently struggled to keep the lights on during a years-long economic crisis but the Communist-run government has entered unprecedented territory under increased pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Nearly two-thirds of the country was already without power when the grid collapsed on Monday.

(Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Kylie Madry)