Cuban Power Outages Expose Deeper Failures Amid U.S. Pressure

In the coastal town of Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba, the daily reality for residents is stark: surrounded by oil refineries and thermoelectric plants, they remain powerless and plunged into darkness. Despite the availability of energy sources nearby, decades of mismanagement and crumbling infrastructure have left families relying on coal and firewood to cook and survive. The worsening blackouts come as the United States has stepped up pressure on Cuba. The Trump administration’s firm stance—including threatening tariffs on nations supplying oil to Havana—targets the very lifeblood of this failing regime. While critics decry these measures as punitive, they underestimate one...