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United States President Donald Trump has promised to take over Cuba as the island nation plunged into total darkness after its national power grid collapsed amid an ongoing oil blockade imposed by Washington.
“You know, all my life I’ve been hearing about the United States and Cuba. When will the United States do it?” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
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“I do believe I’ll be… having the honour of taking Cuba,” Trump said.
“Whether I free it, take it – think I could do anything I want with it. You want to know the truth. They’re a very weakened nation right now.”
There was no immediate comment from Havana on Trump’s comments.
The threat comes amid a total blackout on the Caribbean island, with Union Nacional Electrica de Cuba (UNE) announcing that the “complete shutdown of the national grid” has left the nation of 10 million without power. The state-owned company said it was working to restore electricity flows.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines also noted a “complete disconnection” of the country’s electrical system on X and said it was investigating, noting there were no failures in the units that were operating when the grid collapsed.
State media later reported that crews had restored power to 5 percent of Havana’s residents, representing some 42,000 customers, as well as several hospitals across the island. Officials said they would prioritise the communications sector next, all while warning that the small circuits restored so far could fail again.
It was the third major blackout in Cuba over the past four months.
Cuba’s ageing grid has drastically eroded in recent years, leading to daily outages and an increase in island-wide blackouts. But the government has also blamed its woes on a US energy blockade after Trump, in January, warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba.
His administration has openly said it is seeking regime change in Communist-led Cuba.
No oil has been imported to Cuba since January 9, amid the US pressure campaign.
The Reuters news agency reported that Cuba has received only two small vessels carrying oil imports this year, citing SEG ship-tracking data it reviewed.
Earlier this month, a blackout hit two-thirds of the country, mainly in the centre and west, for more than a day after a breakdown at the Antonio Guiteras power plant, the island’s largest. Another major blackout affected western Cuba in early December.
The US actions have further strained Cuba’s years-long economic woes, causing a humanitarian crisis amid widespread shortages of fuel, food and medicine.
The conditions have fomented rare public unrest on the island, with protesters torching a Communist Party office over the weekend. Rights groups have warned against any US attempts to rally dissent by worsening the living conditions for residents.
Tomás David Velazquez Felipe, a 61-year-old resident of Havana, told The Associated Press (AP) news agency that the relentless outages make him think that Cubans who can should just pack up and leave the island. “What little we have to eat spoils,” he said. “Our people are too old to keep suffering.”
Mercedes Velazquez, a 71-year-old Cuban resident, lamented yet another blackout.
“We’re here waiting to see what happens,” she told AP, adding that she recently gave away part of a soup she made while it was still fresh, so as not to throw it out. “Everything goes bad.”
The Trump administration is looking for Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel to leave power as Washington continues to negotiate with the Cuban government about the island nation’s future, AP reported, citing a US official and a source with knowledge of talks between Washington and Havana.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not offer any details about who the administration might like to see come to power, AP reported.
Trump, who has previously suggested a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, said on Sunday that Cuba “wants to make a deal”.
His top officials have also promised that Washington will continue to take a militaristic approach to Latin America, even as the US fights a war against Iran alongside Israel.
Diaz-Canel, meanwhile, confirmed for the first time last week that his government had held talks with the Trump administration.
Separately, Diaz-Canel’s government on Monday extended an invitation to Cuban Americans and other exiles living abroad to invest in and own businesses on the island and get involved in large-scale projects, including those related to infrastructure, according to state media.
Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga said that those Cubans will be allowed to partner with Cuban private companies and establish ties with both state-owned and private Cuban entities.
Perez-Oliva said the government would also grant land under usufruct for the development of certain projects.
He said Cubans living abroad would also be able to open foreign currency bank accounts in Cuban banks, which will facilitate transactions.
