HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Cuba on Monday began gradually restoring power after suffering another nationwide blackout, the sixth since the year began.

The communist island is struggling to keep the lights on due to creaking infrastructure and a biting United States energy blockade.

As the lights suddenly turned off across Havana late Sunday, residents sitting outside to get some respite from the summer heat audibly groaned.

By Monday morning, about 23 per cent of Havana had electricity restored.

Most Cubans now have power only for a few hours a day, at best, making normal life impossible.

With each outage water supplies trickle away and ceiling fans slow to a halt.

And countrywide grid collapses are becoming more common.

It is a growing strain for a society used to adversity but is now stuck in a months-long crisis that has no obvious end in sight.

“Since Friday I’ve only had an hour and a half of electricity, there’s no water, there’s nothing; what we Cubans are living through is not a life,” Mayra Rodriguez, a 43-year-old accountant, told AFP.

A man walks past a hotel remaining lit by its own system during a blackout in Havana on March 16, 2026. Cuba suffered another widespread power cut on Sunday against the backdrop of a severe crisis on the island caused by the US energy blockade. File

She sleeps on her apartment balcony with her two small children to cope with the summer heat.

Residents in the worst-affected areas have vented their frustrations by setting piles of trash on fire or banging on pots and pans.

Carlos Duenas, a 62-year-old mechanic, said he felt worn out by the “unsustainable” situation.

“No one says when the situation might improve. In the meantime, we just have to endure,” he said. “Not everyone has the money to buy [solar] panels.”

Many of Cuba’s electricity production facilities run off fuel oil, diesel, or natural gas, which are no longer regularly arriving to Cuban ports.

Washington has warned countries they will face sanctions if they deliver oil to Cuba — a threat Havana’s long-time allies have not been willing to openly test.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has authorised the arrival of only one Russian tanker — carrying 100,000 tons of crude — which came in March. Those reserves have since been exhausted.

Havana accuses Washington of being responsible for the dire state of the power system, while the United States argues it is due to poor internal economic management.