A woman prepares to catch a tossed frisbee during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Friday. Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press

Cuba’s electrical system collapsed on Friday, as mounting problems with a lack of oil and dilapidated equipment reached a crisis point, paralyzing the economy of the Communist nation.

The Energy and Mining ministry announced the “total disconnection” of the national electricity system at 11:07 a.m. after the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric power plant in the city of Matanzas suddenly shut down. Authorities said they were scrambling to get the facility back online, but it was unclear when that might occur.

On Thursday night, Cuban authorities had already taken drastic steps to curb energy use, announcing the shutdown of schools, many government offices and entertainment sites like discos. The government ordered nonessential businesses to halt production.

“We have had to paralyze the economy to guarantee a minimum of electrical service,” Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said in an announcement Thursday night on state-run television.

He blamed the problem on a severe fuel shortage. Cuban authorities said that a ship carrying oil had reached the island on Oct. 9 but couldn’t dock and start unloading for five days because of bad weather.

On Friday, the situation deteriorated as the country’s biggest power plant, Antonio Guiteras, stopped functioning.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on X that the government was “giving absolute priority to solving the energy emergency” and “would not rest until [power] is reestablished.”

Desde la dirección del país estamos dedicando absoluta prioridad a la atención y solución de esta contingencia energética de alta sensibilidad para la nación.

No habrá descanso hasta su restablecimiento. https://t.co/QbdZh43LRo

— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) October 18, 2024

A day earlier, he blamed the energy shortage on the U.S. trade embargo, saying that the “surging economic war and financial and energy persecution by the United States” made it difficult for Cuba to import oil and industry inputs.

Cuba is suffering its worst economic crisis in decades, due to the embargo and enhanced U.S. sanctions introduced in recent years, in addition to the inefficient policies of the Communist government and the failure of the tourism industry to recover since the covid-19 pandemic.

A lack of food and energy has driven hundreds of thousands of Cubans to migrate in the past few years and has sparked occasional protests.

Cuba is heavily dependent on Venezuela for its oil. But the socialist-run South American country is facing its own energy problems and has cut supplies to the island. Cuba has received an average of 32,600 barrels a day in the first nine months of this year, around half the amount shipped in the same period of 2023, according to the Reuters news agency.

Valentina Muñoz Castillo in Mexico City contributed to this report.