Cuba is going dark under US pressure. How the crisis unfolded and why its troubles are far from over | CNN

Almost three months after the US effectively imposed an oil blockade on Cuba that worsened its energy crunch, nearly every aspect of Cuban society has been feeling the strain. Trash has been piling up on the streets of the capital, hospital stays and surgeries are being limited, people are using wood fires to heat water, and blackouts have become commonplace. President Miguel Díaz-Canel addressed the crisis in a nationally televised press conference on Friday, during which he insisted that authorities were seeking solutions but acknowledged that the task wouldn’t be simple. Here’s how Cuba reached this point and where it could go from here. Since the 1960s, the US has maintained an economic embargo on Cuba that has cost the island “trillions of dollars” and impacted its “overall human development,” according to a United Nations report. Despite calls from many nations to lift the penalties, the US has recently ratcheted up pressure on the communist-run island. In early January, the US cut off Cuba’s main oil supplier, Venezuela, after capturing its president in a military raid and forcing its acting government to halt shipments. Weeks later, Cuba lost oil supply from