Cuba's electric grid collapses again, less than a day after last blackout

Cuba's national electrical grid collapsed for a second time in two days, exacerbating the country's ongoing energy crisis caused by fuel shortages and a U.S.-imposed oil blockade.

Cuba's national ​electrical grid collapsed again ‌on Monday, ​state-run media reported, as the government was trying to reestablish the system following ‌a country-wide blackout on Sunday night.

Cuba's aging power generation system is under severe strain from fuel shortages, deteriorating infrastructure and a U.S.-imposed ‌oil blockade. Blackouts affecting the entire island, home to about ‌10 million people, have become increasingly frequent in recent months.

Three outages hit Cuba over the course of nine days in July, followed by the outage ⁠on ​Sunday just ⁠before 11 p.m. local time. "Despite the progress made today, an oscillation ⁠triggered the collapse," said Lazaro Manuel Alonso, news director of Cuba's state-run ​television, in a post shared via social media.

A U.S.-imposed ⁠oil blockade, after Trump's administration deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, ⁠has crippled ​the island's already aging energy infrastructure. Venezuela was Cuba's primary fuel supplier, and subsequent U.S. pressure also led Mexico ⁠to halt oil shipments to the island.

Havana blames a decades-old U.S. ⁠trade embargo ⁠for its failing infrastructure, while Washington says the blackouts are due to the mismanagement of Cuba's ‌state-run economy.