Cuba struggles to keep the lights on given decrepit grid

FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past houses in quarantine amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Havana, Cuba, April 8, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban state media said on Friday that the intermittent blackouts that have plagued the island since June are caused by an aging power infrastructure and lack of proper maintenance and cautioned that residents should be prepared for more in the coming months.

The power outages reflect a deepening economic crisis that began with harsh new U.S. sanctions https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-sanctions-investment-analysis/tougher-u-s-sanctions-make-cuba-ever-more-difficult-for-western-firms-idUSKBN1WO2LP in 2019 and worsened with the pandemic, exposing such vulnerabilities as a decaying infrastructure and dependence on foreign currency from tourism and remittances to purchase food, medicine, raw materials and spare parts.