The entire island nation of Cuba fell into darkness The state energy minister made the admission Friday after a major power plant broke down.
Severe power shortages had already forced the communist government to restrict electricity use to save the grid. State employees were sent home, and non-essential industries and schools were also closed.
“I went to a restaurant, but there was no food because the power was out. There's no internet now.”
Despite last-ditch efforts by the government, the Antonio Guiteras thermal nuclear power plant near Havana failed on Friday, although authorities have not said what caused the failure.
The power outage affected approximately 10 million people in Cuba.
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero blamed the deteriorating energy situation on aging infrastructure and a U.S. embargo that hampered the country's efforts to obtain spare parts and fuel.
“The complex scenario is mainly caused by the escalation of the economic war and the financial and energy persecution of the United States,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said.
A White House National Security Council spokesperson denied the accusations.
“The United States is not responsible for today's power outage on the island of Cuba or for the energy situation in Cuba as a whole,” the spokesperson said.
Stores and nightclubs have been ordered to close, and the power outage has also affected Cuba's tourism industry.
Carlos Roberto Julio, a tourist from Brazil, said: “We went to a restaurant but there was no food because the power was out. Now we don't even have internet. We've already had some problems in the past two days.” he said.
The power plant is named after Antonio Guitteras y Holmes, a Pennsylvania-born communist revolutionary who died fighting to overthrow the Cuban government in 1935.
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