It's been nearly 3 months since the US began an oil blockade of Cuba. Donald Trump has previously stated the communist Caribbean nation is the next on his list of countries that he would like to quote deal with. The blockade is making life difficult for locals as rolling blackouts and other restrictions become commonplace. There's little traffic on Cuba's motorways. There's little fuel to be had, so nobody moves unless it's absolutely essential. We traveled a couple of hours outside the capital Havana, mainly passing horse-drawn carts or slow-moving motorcycles and scooters.

Without power or fuel, Cuba's already weak economy is floundering. This is a farming community in the region of Pinar del Rio, the center of tobacco production and Cuban cigars. This community is typical of rural Cuba. There's little going on. Most people are poor and there's virtually no electricity. When we arrived, the power cut was already 2 days old. At sunset, many climb onto their rooftops looking for signal. And there is barely any. People tell us communicating with family and friends is often impossible these days. Others prepare charcoal fires to cook dinner for their families.

Nobody relies on electric ovens anymore. As the night falls, battery-powered lights flicker on in the midst of a general blackout. Row after row of apartment blocks shrouded in darkness. It will stay like this until sunrise. Right, communities like this one across the whole of Cuba have had problems with power shortages for a long time now, but everyone who lives here tells us it's getting worse since the fuel blockade imposed by President Trump on Cuba has really kicked in. And it affects all of their lives, right? So, there's no electricity, there's no heating, lighting, and to be seen, there's no telecommunications.

Uh the pumps that push water around, meaning there's no running water. In this community, a farming community, they can't afford the fuel to get to the fields to do their farming and they can't afford to run the farming equipment. The reality of life during this fuel blockade is summed up by the darkness, by the grinding monotony of living without the appliances of modern life. In many ways, Cuba goes back in time every single night. We've invited you to come and meet a family who live in this apartment block. Some of them have lights. It's solar power or batteries that they've got.

I'm on about the third floor, I think, of this apartment. This is their electricity meters. They're not doing anything. Until they're completely stationary. There's no power on at all. And they can often go days without power here. I'm about to get my car and my wallet. Oscar is a physics and maths teacher. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he's rigged up a system to keep the lights on at home. It's a short-term fix, but it's effective.

Oscar and his wife, Lis, an English teacher, live here with their son. Oscar takes home about 10 lb a month as a teacher. All government wages are poor, so he holds down three other jobs to try to make ends meet. They're not happy with their lives, but they don't see Donald Trump as their savior. They prefer Cuba to do better and the American blockade is making things worse. Before the Trump administration, we had problems, but this has been worse, much worse in every way. Transportation, growing food, the blackouts have also

increased. It's very difficult to keep food in the refrigerator. I have to buy food every day. Do you see what I mean? So, it's been a lot harder, like never before, a lot worse. In another apartment, Janet prepares the charcoal to make her dinner for the evening with the help of the light of a torch. She's a pediatric physiotherapist and lives alone in her two-bedroom flat. Much of her extended family live in the blocks around her in the town. Getting by is just a way of life for Janet. She'd like more, but there isn't more. And she, like so many Cubans we've met, are scared about the future and afraid

about what may happen to her country. Donald Trump says he wants to bring about huge changes [clears throat] in Cuba. That the blockade is to try and bring about those changes. Do the people in Cuba resent this interference? In the end, it's the people who have to endure the consequences of any change. Hardship has increased and it's us who are suffering day by day. By morning, the community slowly awakes. Another night without power gives way to another day without power. It's relentless.

Cuba's chronic mismanagement and the neglect of infrastructure over decades contributes to this situation. But years of US sanctions and President Trump's current oil blockade are making the problems in Cuba more acute now. Stuck in the middle, another population disinclined to rise up, but suffering all the same.