Cuba suffered more blackouts last week after one of the island’s major power plants failed.
Residents in the capital, Havana, were without electricity for up to six- to 10-hour periods, while in smaller towns and regions the blackouts lasted for up to 20 hours.
On Friday, the Government ordered schools to close and told non-essential workers to stay at home.
A shortage of fuel on the island means that only six of the country’s 15 oil-fired power plants are working, according to the Government, and smaller clusters of backup diesel-powered generators can’t be fired up.
The latest blackouts are the worst since last year when Cuba’s nationwide grid collapsed multiple times due to dwindling oil imports from Mexico, Russia and Venezuela.
The situation was made worse last November when Cuba was struck by Hurricane Oscar, which temporarily knocked out power across the entire country of 10 million people.
Cuba blames the US trade embargo and tough sanctions implemented by the Trump administration for ongoing difficulties in maintaining its electrical grid and sourcing fuel and spare parts.
President Donald Trump last month reversed measures taken by his predecessor Joe Biden to lighten sanctions on Cuba.
Cuban officials said last Friday that residents could expect a slight improvement in conditions over the weekend as the island’s fuel supply improved.
