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The outrage of residents in Old Havana due to the lack of electricity, water, and food, as reflected in a video from CubaNet that circulated this weekend, sparked a wave of reactions on the Facebook of CiberCuba.
The material, in which several residents can be heard shouting "Everyone to the street", was shared by hundreds of users and sparked heated comments that reflect the frustration of a population subjected to extreme shortages.
The comments all agree on one point: the feeling that the situation has reached an unbearable limit.
“We do not have a single basic resource to live on; demanding something as fundamental as water or electricity has become a crime”, wrote an internet user. Another added angrily: “There is nothing left to lose, it's time to fight for the children who go to bed hungry”.
Among the messages, many were direct calls for protest and unity. "To the streets without returning home until all these corrupt officials are gone", read one of the most shared responses.
"If the people unite, they cannot defeat us", pointed out another. The slogan "Homeland and Life" reemerged in multiple comments as a cry for freedom and a rejection of the current political system.
The outrage was directed not only at the prolonged blackouts that paralyze daily life but also at the lack of water, gas, and food.
Several residents described scenes of unsanitary conditions in the schools in the area, overflowing pits, and accumulated garbage, which, according to one comment, turns Old Havana into "a filth where one survives among cockroaches and mice".
Another user compared the situation to war scenarios: “This looks like Gaza, or worse, Nepal before its uprising”.
The overall sentiment was one of exhaustion and hopelessness. “It's depressing what we are living through, we can’t take it anymore,” said a woman, while others joked about the idea that “this country seems like a complete collapse” or a “Nepal 2.0.”
Some comments focused on the inequality between the people and the political elite: “While the leaders travel the world, here children go to bed hungry”.
The post also sparked debates about fear and repression. “If all of Cuba takes to the streets, there are no police that can stop it”, pondered a user, but others expressed skepticism: “They won’t do anything, it always ends with the same people being arrested”.
Despite the repression remembered during the protests on July 11, 2021, many insisted that the only way forward is to rise up again: "The solution is in your hands; you are the only ones who can change your reality."
There were no shortage of comments blaming external factors, echoing the official narrative about the United States embargo. However, they were in the minority compared to the avalanche of voices that directly pointed to the Communist Party and its leaders as responsible for the collapse.
“This is criminal, we have been condemned to misery for more than six decades”, wrote a reader, while another exclaimed: “Down with communism, freedom now”.
The comparison with Nepal —a country where massive protests brought down an authoritarian government— was repeated in several responses, used as a metaphor for what could happen in Cuba if the people lose their fear. "Follow the example of Nepal, now or never", was written in uppercase letters in a comment that received dozens of reactions.
The echo of this protest on social media demonstrates that the unrest is not limited to the affected neighborhoods. The testimonies collected on the CiberCuba page reveal a country on the brink, where demanding basic rights such as water, electricity, or food becomes a national outcry.
The phrase that titles the video, “Everyone to the streets”, has become a digital slogan and a symbol of a society tired of waiting for solutions that never come.
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