HAVANA, July 12, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Cuba worked to revive its electrical grid Saturday after a second nationwide blackout in less than a week, with repairs hampered by a fuel shortage caused by a US blockade, authorities said.

The Caribbean island is reeling from its worst economic crisis in decades -- one made worse by the fuel blockade imposed by US President Donald Trump in January as part of a pressure campaign aimed at ending six decades of communist rule.

About seven percent of households in Havana, a city of 1.7 million, had power as of midday Saturday, according to the state UNE electricity utility.

"Restoration is proceeding gradually, as conditions allow," it said on X.

It was the fourth nationwide blackout in less than six months and the ninth since late 2024 for the island nation, which has a population of 9.6 million.

The grid failed Friday afternoon, two days after authorities reconnected the system following a nationwide outage on Monday.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a social media post on Saturday the situation was "very complex due to the genocidal oil blockade" imposed by Washington.

Since January, Washington has authorized the arrival of only one Russian tanker -- carrying 100,000 tons of crude -- which came in March. Those reserves have since been exhausted.

Cuba's electrical grid suffers from frequent total or partial blackouts due to aging infrastructure and fuel shortages.