HAVANA, Cuba (AFP)—Cuba was hit by worsening power outages on Thursday as the island’s communist government said oil reserves had run out and rare protests broke out around the capital Havana.

Eastern Cuba was plunged Thursday into the latest of regular electricity shutdowns affecting the whole country, while people protested against power outages in neighborhoods around Havana, in the west of the island.

Oil reserves sent by Russia have now “run out,” Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy told state television, describing the situation as “very tense.”