That's the Night That the Lights Went Out in Cuba (For Real This Time)

Cuba has been suffering blackouts for several years, but on Monday, the entire nation went dark for the first time. 

"Cuba's electrical grid has suffered a complete and total collapse. This according to the country's power operator," CNN reported on Monday afternoon. "It's the first nationwide blackout since the U.S. effective shut off the flow of oil to Cuba." 

🚨 La red eléctrica de Cuba ha sufrido un colapso total y absoluto. Así lo ha informado el operador eléctrico del país. pic.twitter.com/nmxEwhBvJG

— Informe Orwell (@InformeOrwell) March 16, 2026

This means hospitals that are already barely functioning are on generators. What little food people have will spoil. The regime is, of course, blaming the United States. 

About two weeks ago, a large portion of the country went dark. Some of the power has since been restored, but much of it has not. Even those with power were suffering almost day-long blackouts. It's what prompted days of protests in the streets — Sunday night was night 10 — including attempts to burn down a Communist Party headquarters.  As I've mentioned in previous articles, the Cuban people aren't demanding power, running water, or even food. They're calling for the end of communist rule and asking for Donald Trump to step in and help liberate them.   

Earlier on Monday, people were blocking streets as a form of protest: 

🚨 ÚLTIMA HORA

En Cuba ahora están bloqueando las calles en protesta contra la dictadura por falta de servicios básicos.pic.twitter.com/hPZkA7aKG9

— Emmanuel Rincón (@EmmaRincon) March 16, 2026

"This is the true legacy of the Castros: darkness, scarcity, and a nation pushed to the brink," Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), who is the daughter of Cuban exiles, posted on X. "The Cuban people deserve freedom, democracy, and a country that works for them, not a failed dictatorship clinging to power."  

This is the true legacy of the Castros: darkness, scarcity, and a nation pushed to the brink.

The Cuban people deserve freedom, democracy, and a country that works for them, not a failed dictatorship clinging to power. 🇨🇺 https://t.co/UhFZmThF45

— María Elvira Salazar 🇺🇸 (@MaElviraSalazar) March 16, 2026

Efforts are currently underway to restore power, but if the blackout from two weeks ago is any indicator, they'll be slow and painful and could take days to weeks. 

Donald Trump, who has been teasing the idea of a "friendly takeover" for a couple of weeks, spoke out on the matter while flying back to Washington, D.C. from Palm Beach on Sunday evening:  

Well, I am holding Cuba. Cuba's a failed nation. Cuba also wants to make a deal, and I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do. We have a lot of great people that happened to vote for Trump, not that that matters, but we have a lot of great people from Cuba that were violently and viciously thrown out of the country and worse. Their families were killed. And so we're talking to Cuba, but we're gonna do Iran before Cuba.

You know, people have been waiting fifty years to hear this story with Cuba. When I left Palm Beach today, there were thousands of people on the road, I'm sure you saw them, and they were from Cuba and from Venezuela, all friendly, waving the flag and waving the American flag. 

They've been waiting fifty years for what's happening with Cuba, so I think something will happen with Cuba pretty quickly.

Here's some of the people along the road that the president was talking about: 

URGENTE ‼️ 🇨🇺🇺🇸 El presidente Trump acaba de pasar frente a la protesta de cubanos libres en West Palm Beach pic.twitter.com/QWqUrD00Z6

— Javi🇨🇺 (@JaviXCubaLibre) March 15, 2026

It will be interesting to see what happens next. If the country is unable to restore power at all, Trump will have to do something "pretty quickly" indeed. 

Meanwhile, the regime is showing all sorts of signs that's it's desperate and basically backed into a corner with no way out. On Friday, "president" Miguel Díaz-Canel admitted for the first time that the regime is "negotiating" with the United States. However, he made it out as if this was some sort of mutual agreement and not pressure from the Trump administration.   

There's also a rumor going around that the regime is encouraging Cubans who live in the United States and elsewhere to come back and invest in the local economy, but those who want the regime to fall, ranging from members of the U.S. Congress to Cuban opposition leaders, say that's like putting lipstick on a pig. They will accept nothing less than the the end of the Castro regime's grasp on the nation. And besides, who wants to invest in a country that has no electricity?  

It'll be interesting to see what happens in the days to come. 

Will we finally see the end of the Castro regime in the weeks to come? It sure does look like it. PJ Media will be along for the ride and bring you all the important updates. You can help us stay on top of it by becoming a PJ Media VIP member. It's less than $20 for the entire year, and you get some cool perks too. We can't wait to join us as we watch history unfold.