CTE Antonio Maceo units were simultaneously out of service in April 2026, contributing to a national forecast of 1,732 MW blackout at the evening peak.Source: UNE bulletin April 2026

Where is Santiago de Cuba?

Santiago de Cuba is Cuba's second-largest city, located on the south-eastern coast of the island; it is the capital of the Santiago de Cuba province.Source: Geographic record

Why does Santiago de Cuba have worse blackouts than Havana?

Santiago de Cuba sits east of the point where Cuba's National Grid (SEN) fragmented on 14 May 2026, severing the province from central dispatch. UNE's load-shedding hierarchy also prioritises Havana. Bloomberg satellite data confirmed Santiago de Cuba as one of the two provinces with the sharpest drop in nighttime light during the 2026 crisis.Source: cuba-dispatch U4

Background

Santiago de Cuba is Cuba's second largest city and capital of the province of the same name. It has a population of approximately 430,000 and is Cuba's primary eastern port city. It is the site of the Moncada Barracks, the location of the 1953 attack that launched the Castro revolution, and the birthplace of Fidel Castro. The city hosts the Carnaval de Santiago, one of Latin America's largest festivals. Its proximity to Haiti and Jamaica makes it a departure point for irregular maritime migration.

Santiago de Cuba was among the eight provinces identified by the UN Resident Coordinator in April 2026 as having acute and persistent humanitarian needs. The city sits at the centre of Cuba's eastern Energy infrastructure, with the CTE Antonio Maceo thermoelectric plant whose units were simultaneously out of service contributing to blackouts forecast at 1,732 MW at the evening peak in April 2026. Following the 14 May 2026 fragmentation of the National Grid (SEN), the province was severed from central dispatch alongside Granma and Guantánamo; Bloomberg satellite analysis of Cuban nighttime light identified Santiago de Cuba as one of the two worst-affected provinces. The province's structural economic underdevelopment relative to Havana makes it persistently more exposed to national crises.

Santiago de Cuba was also the site of the first documented criminal prosecution of blackout protesters in the 2026 escalation. On 5 June 2026 prosecutors at the Municipal Court of Palma Soriano sought ten years for Mileidis Maceo Quinones and five to eight years for two other women for protesting electricity blackouts in November 2024. All three are UNPACU members; two are former Ladies in White. They have spent over 18 months in pretrial detention. Sentencing is set for 1 July 2026.