Cuba fights to come back from a nationwide blackout, then a storm that killed six

A small town in far eastern Cuba was recovering Tuesday from flooding that killed at least six people after Hurricane Oscar crossed the island's eastern coast as a tropical storm with winds and heavy rain.

Cuba's capital was partially illuminated Monday night after a large-scale blackout generated a handful of protests and a stern government warning that any unrest would be punished.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on state television that rescue and recovery work continued in the town of San Antonio del Sur and officials had yet to enter some flooded areas.

"The country has completely halted," said homemaker Mayde Quiñones, 55, who cares for her mother-in-law, who is in her 80s. "This hurts everyone, but the elderly most of all."

The Cuban government has a low tolerance for civil disobedience and Díaz-Canel warned on national television Sunday that "we're not going to allow any vandalism, or let anyone disturb people's tranquility."

The prolonged nationwide blackout that followed a massive outage Thursday night was part of countrywide energy problems that led to the largest protests in Cuba in almost 30 years, in July 2021. Those were followed by smaller local protests in October 2022 and March 2024.

All are part of a deep economic crisis that has prompted the exodus of more than half a million Cubans to the U.S., with thousands more heading to Europe.

The Cuban government and its allies blame the United States' 62-year-old trade embargo on the island for its economic problems but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that the Cuban government's "long-term mismanagement of its economic policy and resources has certainly increased the hardship of people in Cuba."

Power remains relatively cheap but