Residents of Guanabacoa, in Havana, held a loud protest on Friday night, banging pots and pans and shouting in a demonstration that took them to the streets, which the authorities attempted to suppress.
The events took place in the Minas-Barreras Popular Council in the municipality of Guanabacoa, according to independent journalist José Raúl Gallego, who reported on social media and shared a video of the public protest.
"This video is from a protest that took place moments ago in the locality of Barreras, Guanabacoa. According to a source from the area, a large number of people gathered in the park to protest against the prolonged blackouts," Gallego stated in his post.
The shared video showed a parade of neighbors protesting as they passed in front of the Barrera church, where the image of Our Lady of Sorrows is venerated.
"The delegate tried to persuade them to end the protest, and when he was unsuccessful, he called the police. The police chief who arrived at the scene told the protesters that it was 'unconstitutional' to demonstrate outside their homes," stated the independent journalist and Cuban activist.
According to their account, the head of the local police used violence against the protesters. It is unclear whether this refers to the highest-ranking official at the 14th station of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) in Guanabacoa, who is a direct subordinate of Colonel Tania Hernández Cordero, the head of the PNR in the Cuban capital, and of First Colonel Eddy Manuel Sierra Arias, head of the General Directorate of the PNR.
The blackouts, intensified following the recent total collapse of the national power system, have heightened the public's discontent with the energy crisis they are experiencing.
This Friday, residents of Nuevo Vedado in Havana held a loud demonstration at night, banging pots and shouting from their homes to protest against the authorities responsible for the nearly 60 hours of blackout they were enduring.
"A street protest took place in the Nuevo Vedado neighborhood of Havana, where the editorial office of the newspaper 14ymedio is located, after nearly 60 hours without electricity," reported journalist and director of the mentioned independent media, Yoani Sánchez, on her social media, sharing a video capturing the sounds of the protests.
Despite the recent announcement of the partial restoration of the SEN following Hurricane Rafael, authorities acknowledged that repairs would take time due to extensive damage to transmission lines and key electric substations.
In the face of the uncertainty left by their statements and the difficulties associated with blackouts, the people of Havana erupted and sounded their pots and pans, a form of protest that is spreading in a country where the regime persecutes all forms of dissent and suppresses those who dare to demand their rights and exercise their civil and political liberties.
The protests in Cuba over power outages are not a new phenomenon, but the current context gives them a different urgency. In recent years, living conditions on the island have deteriorated due to the economic crisis, with shortages of basic goods and relentless inflation.
The protests in Guanabacoa and Nuevo Vedado this Friday recall the spontaneous mobilizations that have emerged in other areas of the island, where fatigue and frustration drive the population to take to the streets.
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