Cuba protests: millions without power

Learning English from the News

2026-03-18

8 分钟
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(Image: Getty) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Download a free worksheet! ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ The story Cuba was receiving a third of its oil from Venezuela until a US operation removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in January. No fuel had entered the country in three months and the capital, Havana, has seen blackouts of up to 15 hours a day. Protests in Cuba come as a reaction to electricity blackouts and shortages of food, fuel and medicine, which have been worsened by a US blockade on oil. This has affected hospitals, public transport, education, rubbish collection and heavily impacted Cuba’s economy. It’s been reported that the protest began peacefully but grew more destructive as people started throwing rocks and starting fires. Five people have been arrested in the central city of Moron over the weekend after destroying Communist office buildings. News headlines Cuban protesters ransack Communist office as energy crisis deepens  BBC News Trump threatens to ‘take’ Cuba as island grapples with nationwide blackout Al Jazeera Cuba invites exiles to invest in businesses on the island Reuters Key words and phrases ransack search a place in a violent or careless way grapple with try to deal with or understand a difficult problem or idea exile someone who has been sent away or left a place, often for political reasons Next  Discover more programmes to learn English from the News. Find all our latest programmes. Try Beating Speaking Anxiety - a series to help you boost your speaking confidence.
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  • From BBC Learning English, this is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

  • In this programme, protests in Cuba as millions without power.

  • Hello, I'm Becca.

  • And I'm Pippa.

  • In this podcast, we look at one big news story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

  • You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode

  • as well as a worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

  • So, let's hear more about this story.

  • Five people were arrested in Cuba after a small protest destroyed the offices

  • in the central city of Moron overnight last weekend, Cuba's Interior Ministry said.

  • These protests come as a reaction to electricity blackouts and shortages of food, fuel and medicine,

  • which have been worsened by a US blockade on oil.

  • Yes, a blockade happens when certain goods, such as oil, are stopped from coming into a place.

  • Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel said on Friday that no fuel had entered the country in three months.

  • The capital, Havana, has seen blackouts of up to 15 hours a day.

  • This has affected hospitals, public transport, education, rubbish collection and heavily impacted Cuba's economy.

  • Let's have a look at our first headline.

  • This headline is from BBC News.

  • That headline again from BBC News.

  • This headline is about the protest that was held at the entrance to the Communist Office building on Friday.