70% of Cuba's population has power back after blackout

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00:00Battered by days of nationwide blackouts, the lights are finally back on in Havana.

00:07Now with nothing left in her freezer, these last few days have been tough for Lidia Nunez.

00:13I had to cook this, otherwise it would have gone rotten.

00:17Although prices of fruit and vegetables have held steady, since the blackouts, bread prices

00:22have shot up.

00:24Now electricity is back in most of the capital, things feel less tense.

00:29But days of blackouts have led to new problems, throughout the city, bread rations are arriving

00:33late.

00:34And yet it's striking how many people take these massive outages with calm and even nonchalance.

00:41Everything will be okay, we Cubans face adversity with laughter, we always find a way through.

00:47No I'm not scared, because I'm used to it.

00:50So it wasn't a big deal for you?

00:52Nope.

00:5390% of the capital now has electricity.

00:57Dressed in military fatigues, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said millions in the countryside

01:03still don't.

01:04The White House voiced its concern for the Cuban people and said it has nothing to do

01:09with this latest crisis.

01:10This is not, the US is not to blame for the blackouts on the island.

01:15In fact, US sanctions drive up Cuba's energy costs by specifically targeting oil tankers.

01:22More broadly, maximum pressure sanctions cost the island billions of dollars a year, leaving

01:27little money to upgrade infrastructure.

01:30Economic mismanagement by the ruling Communist Party is another major factor.

01:34These last few days have been really bad, this system doesn't work, there's too many

01:38power cuts and not enough food.

01:41In the days ahead, keeping the lights on and getting food to those who need it will be

01:45among the many pressing problems the Cuban government faces.

01:49Time now for some sports news.

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