Cuba After Dark:  Massive Power Outages Plague Caribbean Nation

by Alex Miller

On Friday 14 March 2025, the fourth major power outage in six months struck Cuba, plunging much of the country into darkness with no electrical power for millions.  The outage began at approximately 8:15 PM EDT and has been traced to the failure of a substation in the Havana suburbs, leading to a total blackout of the western sector of the country, including the capital, and the collapse of the national electric grid.  Fuel shortages and aging, inadequate power infrastructure are blamed for the increasingly frequent outages; hours-long rolling blackouts have been the norm in Cuba for months, with more than half of the country experiencing power cuts during peak hours.

Astrologically, electricity relates to the planet Uranus, which also provides surprises, unexpected events, and shocks to the system.  Mercury rules infrastructure such as electrical wires, as well as news, communication and information (with internet access also affected by the outage).  Dwarf planet Makemake also promotes upsets and shocks, of a higher order than Uranus – if Uranus can be likened to an accident with a utility pole that blacks out a neighborhood, Makemake is the breakdown of the system causing loss of electrical power regionwide. 

A trio of celestial events in late March combined to produce cosmic stressors to Cuba’s birth chart resulting in the current crisis.  Two of these highlight the same zodiacal degree, 9 Aries, with the first event, a retrograde station of Mercury on the 15^th, forming the proximate cause. 

Cuba gained independence on 20 May 1902, and from 9 Aries transit Mercury, appearing to slow its motion, then stop and reverse course, is exactly trine (120 degrees) to Cuba’s natal Uranus at 9 Sagittarius, prompting news (Mercury) about the country’s electrical grid (Uranus).  That 9 Aries degree will be reprised in two weeks by a Solar Eclipse, further highlighting the island nation’s electrical power issues.  Both events also focus attention on Cuba’s natal asteroid Cuba, named for the country, which at 4 Capricorn is receiving stressful squares (90 degrees) from these cosmic stimulants.

The third triggering event is the Lunar Eclipse earlier on the day of the outage.  At 23 Virgo, this squares Cuba’s natal asteroid Havana, named for its capital, at 19 Sagittarius, pulling focus to the specific region that was the source of the problem.  The eclipse was also precisely squared to the transit placement of asteroid Havana at 23 Gemini, further agitating that community in real time.  When we consider that an eclipse is essentially a blotting out of light, the aptness of this pattern on the day of the blackout becomes obvious.

As well, the current transit placement of asteroid Cuba reiterates the cosmic pressure applied, opposed Mercury’s station and the Solar Eclipse from 6 Libra.  Also involved is transit Makemake, which conjoins Cuba from 11 Libra, likewise squaring natal Cuba and opposed the 9 Aries hotspot.  Adding emphasis, when the electrical grid went down at 8:15 PM, this Aries/Libra polarity was further highlighted by the transiting Angles, with the Ascendant at 3 Libra (conjunct Cuba/Makemake) and Descendant at 3 Aries (conjunct Mercury and the upcoming eclipse degree), squared by the MC and IC at 3 Cancer/Capricorn.  Angular placement increases the power and visibility of associated points, and the connection is among the briefest in astrology, with the Angles changing degrees every four minutes, highlighting the precision of the cosmos.  The Moon (the people) also joins the fray from 2 Libra.

The current Cuba/Makemake conjunction is receiving additional stress from transit Uranus, which at 24 Taurus is sesquiquadrate (135 degrees) to both, while also encroaching on Cuba’s national Sun at 28 Taurus, which it will conjoin exactly in June, with several return engagements into 2026.  Similar outages have already prompted protests against the government in 2021, 2022 and 2024 – with Uranus also ruling protest, rebellion and revolution, could we be looking at serious unrest in the communist nation over the next year, based in its government’s inability to keep the lights on?

Title Credit Image: Cuban flag by Michael Christen from Pixabay; socket plug by Mote Oo Education from Pixabay; combined by author