By Annett Rios and Alien Fernandez
Mass blackout cuts power across most of Cuba amid US oil chokehold
HAVANA, March 4 (Reuters) - A power outage struck most of Cuba including Havana, the state electric utility said on Wednesday, as the communist-run government grapples with increased pressure from the Trump administration that has curtailed oil shipments.
State media Cubadebate said the blackout was caused by an unexpected outage at Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant about 100 km (62 miles) east of Havana, cutting electricity from Pinar del Rio in the far west to the eastern Las Tunas province.
Cuba has experienced a series of major blackouts in recent years, even before U.S. actions to cut off oil shipments, particularly from top supplier Venezuela after Washington's ouster of leader Nicolas Maduro in early January.
Cuba's government has attributed its economic crisis to decades of economic sanctions from the U.S.
People in Havana, accustomed to rolling power outages associated with state rationing, mostly took the blackout in stride. Some traffic lights and businesses were operational due to solar panels or power generators.
"The SEN (electrical grid) going dark should not be considered normal," Arian Mendoza, 28, an engineer living in Havana told Reuters. "I don't think it's right."
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The outage briefly took Cuban state TV off the air. Its 1 p.m. national news broadcast started more than half an hour after the normal air time, with a presenter explaining the delay was due to the blackout.
"We can't communicate, we don't know what's on the news because we can't turn on the TV," added Angeli Aviles, 18, a student in Havana.
The electricity utility, UNE, said it was working to restore services.
The Felton 1 thermoelectric power plant, located in Holguin province in eastern Cuba, remains online and recovery protocols have been activated, Cuba's energy ministry said.
The fuel scarcity has caused Cuba's government to ration key services, such as trash collection and transportation. Some residents have installed solar panels on homes and vehicles to keep power running amid soaring fuel prices.
Mexico, an alternate supplier to Venezuela, said it would halt supplies after the U.S. threatened tariffs on countries supplying Cuba with oil.
(Reporting by Annett Rios, Alien Fernandez and Daniel Trotta in Havana, Sandra Gaillard in Buenos Aires and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle, Daina Beth Solomon and Andrea Ricci )