ACTIVISTS renewed calls today for an end to the 64-year-old US blockade of Cuba after the government said that the restricitions were hampering efforts to fix a massive power cut.

About half of the socialist island was plunged into darkness on Thursday evening, followed by all of it the following morning, after a power plant failed.

Havana’s electricity company said in a statement on Saturday that part of its western system had been disconnected “after the exit of one of the plants that was delivering service.”

That breakdown left some parts of the city in the dark, with total megawatts dropping from 500 to 370.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said today that electricity supplies were gradually being restored to normal.

The blackout, considered Cuba’s worst in two years, occurred after a Category 3 hurricane damaged power installations. 

The government has announced emergency measures to slash electricity demand, including suspending school and university classes, shutting down some state-owned workplaces and cancelling non-essential services.

There is no official estimate for when the blackout will end, but the US blockade against Cuba is a severe obstacle in the ways of the authorities’ efforts to restore power supplies in full.

Cuban journalist Luis de Jesus thanked the country’s allies for their assistance in the face of the US blockade.

He said: “In the summer of this year, China donated three photovoltaic parks to Cuba to contribute to the modernisation of the national system, while Russia has sent oil tankers in the past. Mexico, for its part, has sold fuel to the island at subsidised prices.

“None of this would be necessary if the US did not insist on maintaining the blockade.”

Manolo De Los Santos, founder of the People’s Forum in New York, said the US blockade had left Cuba “unable to import repair parts or fuel.”

He added: “The sanctions from both Trump and Biden have left millions in the dark and without access to food and medicine.”

Black Agenda Reports editor Margaret Kimberley said the US was at war with Cuba “without firing a shot.”

In Britain, the Peace and Justice Project added: “The entire population is being suffocated by the US’s illegal economic punishments. The US must end the blockade and let Cuba live.”

Last year, the United Nations general assembly voted for the 31st consecutive year against the US blockade. A total of 187 states backed the resolution, with only the US and Israel voting against and Ukraine abstaining.

Meanwhile, weather forecasters warned that Category 1 hurricane Oscar may be heading directly for Cuba.