The U.S. Embassy in Havana published a security alert on Monday directed at U.S. citizens in Cuba or planning to travel to the island, following the complete collapse of the National Electric System (SEN) on Sunday night.
The statement, shared on the official accounts of the diplomatic mission on Facebook and X, describes an unprecedented electrical deterioration and warns about the risks faced by travelers in a country where electricity has become a scarce resource.
"According to media reports from the Cuban regime, the cause of the outage and the estimated time for service restoration are unknown. All U.S. citizens currently in Cuba or planning to travel to the island should stay informed and plan their trips accordingly. Disruptions in mobile phone and internet service have been reported," the U.S. diplomatic mission warned, referring to the blackout that occurred on Sunday, August 2, at 10:43 PM (local time).
"The Cuban electric grid is increasingly unstable, and this is the sixth total outage of the grid in 2026, three of which occurred just in July of that year. The electrical system remains vulnerable, with regular power outages happening more frequently and lasting longer," the embassy added.
He also pointed out that "scheduled power cuts occur daily, and unscheduled outages persist throughout Cuba, with daily deficits exceeding 60%."
In light of such a situation, the diplomatic mission urged:
- Review the daily updates published by the UNE (Electric Union) and follow UNE's social media accounts.
- Monitor local media for updates.
- Stay in touch with family and friends.
- Prepare for prolonged power outages.
The U.S. diplomatic mission recommended that its citizens in Cuba keep their mobile phones and portable batteries charged, have flashlights and spare batteries readily accessible, and stock up on non-perishable food and water.
Finally, he urged to prepare with alternative methods to meet medical needs (medical devices requiring electricity, medications needing refrigeration, etc.).
Among the actions, it is also included to enroll in the STEP program (step.state.gov) of the State Department to receive security updates, and to subscribe to the consular WhatsApp channel of the embassy.
The U.S. Department of State keeps Cuba at a Level 2 (Exercise Increased Caution) in its travel advisories, with electrical instability being one of the key factors.
The collapse of Monday
While the Cuban electrical system was attempting to recover from the blackout on Sunday night, a frequency fluctuation caused another total disconnection of the National Electroenergetic System on Monday.
The Electric Union published a statement on its official Facebook account with the following message: "In the process of restoring the National Electric System (SEN), the existing weather events have caused impacts on the grid, directly affecting the generating units that were online. We are continuing to work intensively to reverse this situation and achieve the restoration of the system as quickly as possible."
Minutes before that announcement, the government-affiliated journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso had broken the news: "A new disconnection of the National Electric System occurred a few minutes ago. Despite the progress made today, an oscillation caused the outage."
The collapse occurred when the system's recovery was only partial and extremely fragile.
Related videos:
Filed under: