STORY: :: Cubans protest across Havana as the city faces its worst blackouts in decades amid a U.S. blockade
:: Havana, Cuba / May 13, 2026
"We are demanding the right to have electricity. We have gone more than 40 hours without electricity. I live in a community where there are many elderly people, many of them bedridden, there are many children, food is going bad inside the refrigerators, the little food that can be obtained. The country's situation is well known and, well, it gave us the motivation to come out to see if even by banging a pot they will give us at least 3 hours of electricity."
Crowds of hundreds of angry Cubans poured onto the streets in several outlying neighborhoods, blocking roads with burning piles of rubbish, banging pots and shouting slogans.
Reuters witnessed multiple groups of mostly peaceful protesters in locations across the city, marking the largest single night of demonstrations in Havana since the energy crisis took hold in January.
Cuba's energy and mines minister earlier in the day said the nation had completely run out of diesel and fuel oil, and that its power grid had entered a "critical" state.
