U.S. ‘closely monitoring’ Cuba blackouts: White House

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said in Washington, D.C., on Monday that the U.S. is “closely monitoring” the power outage in Cuba and its potential humanitarian impacts. Jean-Pierre said that Cuba’s economic condition “has certainly increased the hardship” for its citizens, which she attributed to the country’s “long-term mismanagement” of policy and resources. Adding that the U.S. is “not to blame for the blackouts on the island,” Jean-Pierre also said that the Cuban government has not requested any assistance at this time.