Cuba, Nicaragua and Central America

Assessment

Cuba's electricity system remains in open failure: the national grid collapsed six times during 2026, including twice within 24 hours on Aug 2-3, and the state utility's Sept 14 service bulletin forecast a peak shortfall of 1,945 MW with units at the Mariel, Felton and Rente thermal plants out on breakdowns, three days after a forecast 2,000 MW deficit on Sept 11 turned into an actual 2,267 MW gap. Washington tightened the squeeze on Sept 3 with sanctions on a state bank, four oil and mining enterprises and Raul Castro's grandson Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis, while Havana blames the embargo and rules out talks. Nicaragua's assembly passed an Ortega-Murillo constitutional reform on Sept 1 extending the presidential term to seven years and barring opposition parties from elections, with a second ratifying vote required from Jan 18, 2027; rights groups called it a usurpation of power on Sept 3.