Cuba’s power grid collapses leaving it without electricity for the 3rd time this month

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s power grid collapsed Saturday leaving the country without electricity for a third time in March as the communist government battles with a decaying infrastructure and a U.S.-imposed oil blockade.

The Cuban Electric Union, which reports to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, announced a total blackout across the island without initially giving a cause for the outage.

The union later said the blackout was caused by an unexpected failure of a generating unit at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant in Camagüey province.

“From that moment, a cascading effect occurred in the machines that were online,” said a report from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, which activated “micro-islands” of generating units to provide power to vital centers, hospitals and water systems.

Authorities said they were working to restore power.

Power outages, whether nationwide or regional, have become relatively common in the last two years due to breakdowns in the aging infrastructure. The breakdowns are compounded by daily blackouts of up to 12 hours caused by fuel shortages, which also destabilize the system.

The last nationwide blackout occurred on Monday. Saturday's outage was the second in the past week and the third in March.

The blackouts have a significant impact on the population, whose lives are disrupted by reduced work hours, lack of electricity for cooking and food spoilage when refrigerators stop working, among many other consequences. In some cases, hospitals have canceled surgeries.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel has said the island has not received oil from foreign suppliers for three months. Cuba produces barely 40% of the fuel it needs to power its economy.

Cuba’s aging grid has drastically eroded in recent years. But the government has also blamed the outages on a U.S. energy blockade after U.S. President Donald Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. The Trump administration is demanding that Cuba release political prisoners and move toward political and economic liberalization in return for a lifting of sanctions. Trump also has raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover of Cuba.”

Another reason Cuba has been struggling with dwindling oil is the removal of Venezuela’s leader, which halted critical petroleum shipments from the nation that had been a steadfast ally to Havana.

Trump has for months suggested Cuba’s government is on the verge of collapse. After a previous time Cuba’s electric grid collapsed, Trump told reporters he believed he’d soon have “the honor of taking Cuba.”

Children look at their phones while sitting on the Malecón wall during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People walk on a street in the dark during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People spend the night in the dark on the Malecon during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People are seen waiting in a car in the dark during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People walk on a street during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People walk on a street during a blackout in Havana, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Braden Frager made a driving layup with 2.2 seconds left, and Nebraska advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time, outlasting Vanderbilt 74-72 in a scintillating second-round NCAA Tournament game on Saturday night when Tyler Tanner's heave from beyond half court rimmed out at the buzzer.

Frager finished with 15 points and Pryce Sandfort also scored 15 for the fourth-seeded Cornhuskers (28-6), who had never won in March Madness until beating Troy two days ago. Nebraska advances to the South Region semifinals in Houston, where it will face either top-seeded Florida or ninth-seeded Iowa on Thursday.

Tanner scored 27 points and Tyler Nickel added 16 for No. 5 seed Vanderbilt (25-9), which was trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007.

Rienk Mast added 13 points for the Huskers. Sam Hoiberg, coach Fred Hoiberg's son, finished with eight points, none bigger than his putback with 1:20 to go that tied the game at 70-all. The teams traded the lead four times over the final 2:08.

Cornhuskers fans took over Paycom Center, just like they did in the first round. “Husker Power!” chants broke out during the second half of Houston's win over Texas A&M, about an hour before the Nebraska game tipped off.

Duke Miles, the Commodores’ No. 2 scorer, had his left thumb taped and was held to nine points. His quiet night put the scoring burden on Tanner, whose layup with 58 seconds left gave Vanderbilt its final lead at 72-70.

The Cornhuskers broke out to an 8-0 lead. Mast, Nebraska’s 6-foot-10, 250-pound center, made two 3-pointers in the first five minutes.

Sandfort did not score until just over five minutes remained in the first half, but his turnaround jumper put the Cornhuskers up 27-19. Nebraska led 39-32 at halftime, despite Tanner’s 15 points.

Vanderbilt chipped away in the second half. Tanner made a layup and was fouled with 9:05 remaining. He missed the free throw, preventing the Commodores from taking their first lead. Moments later, AK Okereke’s 3-pointer finally put Vanderbilt ahead, 58-55.

Vandy pulled in front 67-62, its largest lead of the game, on a 3 by Nickel with 5:34 left. Sandfort responded with a jumper and the margin was no bigger than three points the rest of the way.

Hoiberg, the Big Ten coach of the year, has overseen steady improvement over his seven years at Nebraska. He took the Huskers to the NCAA Tournament two years ago, and this season Nebraska got national attention for a 20-0 start that vaulted it to No. 5 in the AP poll.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner (3) goes to the basket against Nebraska forward Rienk Mast (51) during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Nebraska forward Rienk Mast, right, drives past Vanderbilt center Jalen Washington, left, during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)