At 6 a.m. Havana time on Sunday, September 27, Cuba's national grid had 1,240 megawatts available against demand of 2,750 megawatts. The Ministry of Energy and Mines reported a shortfall of 1,500 megawatts. The night before, the gap peaked at 2,044 megawatts.
Those numbers shape daily life. For months, two-thirds of Cuba had no electricity at night, the Associated Press reported. Some Havana neighborhoods went more than two weeks without running water. Transportation was scarce. Eggs, bread and cooking oil were hard to find. On Friday, September 18, the whole grid shut down. It marked the eighth nationwide blackout of 2026, according to a ministry statement reported by Martí Noticias.
Reforms Under Sanctions
Cuba's top trade official, Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga, says the US trade embargo is the biggest obstacle to the country's free-market reforms. He spoke to Reuters from his ninth-story Havana office. The reforms, unveiled in June, three months ago, would amount to the biggest change to the island's socialist economy since Fidel Castro took control in 1959 if fully implemented.
"It is not our policy to prohibit US companies from investing in Cuba, trading with Cuba, or conducting business of any kind with Cuba," Perez-Oliva said. "What prevents this possibility is the existence of the trade embargo." He denied that any Cuban official had met with representatives of businesses tied to President Donald Trump. Reuters noted that Trump's business associates visited Cuba in 2016 and met top tourism officials, according to minutes of the meetings Reuters reviewed.
Washington sees it differently. It says the reforms don't go far enough and has called for "free and fair" elections. But the pressure carries costs that people feel directly, from renewed sanctions that have hit the economy hard to an oil blockade imposed in January that all but eliminated imports from Mexico, Venezuela and other former top fuel suppliers. Canada's Sherritt International suspended direct participation in a nickel and cobalt venture after a May executive order threatened sanctions on mining-related businesses in Cuba. Australia's Antilles Gold is weighing its next move.
Perez-Oliva also criticized a State Department policy that lets US companies export fuel to Cuba's private sector. "It is aimed at forcing Cuba's economic dependence," he said. US oil and fuel exports to Cuba rose to 778,000 barrels in June from 476,000 in May, according to US data. That's about 26,000 barrels a day, compared with 1,000 barrels for all of January, the Energy Information Administration says. Energy expert Jorge Piñón of the University of Texas called diesel the key fuel for Cuba's economy. He asked who was buying it and questioned whether many Cubans could afford it given transportation costs.
Cash, Banks and Trust
The squeeze reaches people's bank accounts, too. On Monday, September 28, the central bank ordered "zero tolerance" for corruption among its staff. Days earlier, a pro-government Facebook page reported detentions in Santiago de Cuba. Authorities detained staff at state banks BPA and Bandec, suspected of selling scarce cash for fees of 30% to 50%. Officials haven't named the people detained, and they're presumed innocent unless a court rules otherwise.
The bank blamed "the economic crisis and the tightening of the blockade." One reader wrote: "If there were money in the bank and cash machines, nobody would profit from trading cash for a percentage." In July, a complaint reported by CiberCuba said a 1,000-peso transfer bought only 600 pesos in cash. The informal rate reached 745 pesos to the dollar on September 28, up about 10% in 30 days.
The statement changed no rules for account holders and added no banknotes to branches or ATMs. The bank began issuing 10,000- and 20,000-peso notes on September 16. Officials also outlined 20 planned banking changes, including room for banks with private and foreign capital, consumer loans and more digital services.
Culture Carries On
At the National Ballet School in Havana, about 178 students still arrive each morning. Tickets to the national company cost less than $1. Principal dancer Dani Hernández, 37, slept on his building's terrace during recent blackouts. "The entire situation we're experiencing today could affect a generation of students training in ballet, dance, music, the visual arts," he told the AP. "And it's been the same for all other fields: engineering, medicine, education, everything else."
Meanwhile, a Saudi-funded mosque project of about US$9.3 million is advancing near the disused Tallapiedra power station, 14ymedio reported. Whether Cuba asked Saudi Arabia for oil or fuel credit isn't publicly known.
Why This Matters: The facts show who absorbs the shock when sanctions, aging infrastructure and a cash shortage collide. It isn't the officials trading barbs over reforms. It's families without power at night, neighborhoods without water, and account holders paying 30% to 50% to reach their own money. Hernández's warning about a generation of students in medicine, engineering and education puts a long-term price on the crisis. Cuban officials say the embargo blocks their reforms. Washington says the reforms fall short. Neither position, on this record, has yet restored electricity or eased cash access for ordinary Cubans. The central bank's promise of protection for whistleblowers and "no reprisals" is a test of institutional accountability, and the detainees' presumption of innocence is part of that test.