Cuba’s energy crisis exposes systemic vulnerabilities from US blockade and global fossil fuel dependency
Original framing: “Cuba faces nationwide blackouts amid US oil blockade” — Al Jazeera
The crisis echoes the legacy of Cold War embargoes, the 1990s "Special Period" collapse, and earlier colonial extractive economies that tied Cuba to external fossil fuel supplies. Sanctions function as a form of energy colonialism, reproducing patterns of dependency and infrastructural neglect. Historical parallels with Iran and Venezuela illustrate how geopolitical pressure compounds internal decay.
Cuba's blackout crisis is a convergence of historical energy colonialism, scientific fragility, and cultural resilience, amplified by sanctions that echo past patterns of external dependency.
Indigenous stewardship, artistic expression, and marginalized community voices reveal alternative pathways that mainstream narratives overlook. By applying cross‑cultural lessons, future modelling, and trickster insight, a systemic shift toward decentralized, climate‑adapted energy can transform vulnerability into collective sovereignty.