Cuba suffers third nationwide blackout amid US fuel embargo
Cuba experienced its third nationwide blackout, with the UN warning of rising infant mortality due to the ongoing US fuel embargo.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Cuba has suffered its third nationwide blackout in quick succession, with the country's ageing electrical grid struggling to stay online due to a months-long fuel embargo imposed by the United States. Ordinary Cubans are now going at least 20 hours a day without power, and island-wide blackouts can last for entire days. The lack of electricity is causing food to rot in fridges, leaving homes without air conditioning in the height of summer, and preventing fans from keeping mosquitoes at bay. Garbage collection has also stopped.
The crisis is hitting the healthcare system hard. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has warned that infant mortality has nearly doubled in recent months. The Cuban government reports that childhood cancer survival rates have dropped from 85% to 65% since the near total oil blockade was put in place. Around 3,000 Cubans awaiting dialysis treatment have had their treatments disrupted, and 100,000 people are on hospital waiting lists.
Critics in Washington argue that Cuba's healthcare system was already in deep trouble and that the government needs to make major economic and political reforms before any sanctions are lifted. However, a group of four US congresspeople recently returned from a three-day trip to the island and delivered comments highly critical of the Trump administration's policy on Cuba, with one describing it as a siege. Talks between the Trump administration and the Cuban government, represented by Raul Castro's grandson Raulito Castro, appear to be going nowhere, and the situation is expected to continue for several months.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC NEWS |
|---|---|
| Childhood cancer survival rates in Cuba dropped from 85% to 65% since the oil blockade. | |
| Cuba's third nationwide blackout was blamed on a months-long US fuel embargo. | |
| The UN reported that infant mortality in Cuba nearly doubled in recent months. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC News focused on the human impact of the blackouts and the fuel embargo, highlighting the suffering of ordinary Cubans and the severe strain on the healthcare system. The report gave significant weight to UN warnings and Cuban government figures, while also noting the political divide in Washington between critics and supporters of the embargo. The tone was factual and sympathetic to the humanitarian crisis, without taking sides on the political dispute.
- “This is now the third nationwide blackout in Cuba in quick succession and life is becoming increasingly unbearable for ordinary Cubans, most of whom go at least 20 hours a day without power.”
- “Last month the Cuban government pointed to figures which it said showed a drop from 85% survival rates in childhood cancers to 65% since the near total oil blockade was put in place on Cuba by the United States.”
- “All of them have delivered comments where they are very critical of the Trump administration's policy on Cuba, with one of them saying it amounted to a siege.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.