Havana (AFP) — Power was restored to 11 of Cuba’s 15 provinces Thursday, the national electricity company said after an island-wide blackout that lasted nearly 24 hours.

The Cuban Electric Union said on X that 79.4 percent of households in the capital Havana have electricity again after the fifth widespread blackout in the cash-strapped nation since October 2024.

“The SEN (National Electric System) has been reconnected, with restoration still pending” in four provinces, the company said.

The outage surprised Cubans Wednesday morning, after many had already left for work or to drop their children at school.

Maria Beltran, a 58-year-old social worker who lives in a densely populated neighborhood of western Havana, told AFP power returned to her home at dawn.

“We realized it because we l

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