Cuba blames its economic woes on a Cold War-era US trade embargo, a web of laws and regulations that complicate financial transactions and the acquisition of essentials like fuel and spare parts.

The grid failed on Friday evening about 8:15pm (00:15 GMT) after a breakdown at Diezmero substation in the capital, Havana, kicked off a chain reaction that shut down power generation across the island, according to officials at operator Union Electrica (UNE).

Cuba suffered a general blackout on Friday caused by a crash of its national electricity grid, officials said, the fourth major power outage on the cash-strapped communist island in five months. “At around 8:15pm tonight,