HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Cuban authorities said Thursday they made progress toward restoring power to end a blackout that hit two-thirds of the beleaguered communist nation.

The grid that failed Wednesday and left Havana and much of the country without electricity has now been reconnected nationwide, and people should gradually see the power come back on, the energy ministry said.

“As of 5:01 this morning, the national electrical system is reconnected,” the ministry said in a statement.

It said more generation units are being brought back online so people will have power again. Several areas of Havana did, in fact, have electricity Thursday morning, AFP observed.

Cuba’s electricity generation system is in shambles. Daily power outages of up to 20 hours are the norm in parts of the island, which lacks the fuel needed to generate power.

The crisis in the country of 9.6 million people comes at a particularly tense time, and has become more acute since the US ouster of Cuba’s top ally, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, on January 3.

Maduro’s administration supplied about half of Cuba’s fuel.

After his capture, Washington imposed an oil embargo on arch-foe Cuba but later eased it, amid warnings from other Caribbean countries that it could trigger an economic collapse and make everyday people suffer unduly.

Still, President Donald Trump has maintained his blockade of sorts, and oil shipments from Caracas to Havana are in limbo.