Cuba restores power to one-fifth of population after nationwide blackouts | U.S. & World [Video]

By Dave Sherwood

HAVANA (Reuters) -Cuba’s government said late on Saturday it had restored power to nearly one-fifth of the island’s people after the national grid collapsed twice in 24 hours, plunging millions of people into darkness.

The unprecedented nationwide blackout is the latest blow in the nation of 10 million, already suffering from dramatic shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

Cuba’s top electricity official, Lazaro Guerra, said the grid operator was working to restore electricity but that the process would be slow and rushing the job could lead to more blackouts and a deterioration of service.

“I cannot assure you that we will be able to complete linking the system today, but we are estimating that there should be important progress today,” Guerra said on a TV newscast earlier in the day.

The capital Havana was still largely in the dark on Saturday evening. Strong winds and rain began to buffet much …