Large police deployment in Santiago de Cuba for fear of popular protests

A large police deployment for fear of popular protests was deployed this Wednesday in Santiago de Cuba, according to reports from social media users who shared images of the presence of vehicles and repressive agents on the streets of the city.

“Military convoy takes to the streets of Santiago de Cuba for fear of protests following popular discontent,” he reported in his the independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, from own and anonymous sources.

Images shared in his publication showed trucks, patrols and a large number of agents from the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) and special troops from the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), known as “black berets.”

"Many followers report to me that several military convoys, with police, 'black berets' and cage cars, are stationed in several peripheral neighborhoods of the city of Santiago de Cuba and on the central Carretera del Morro, epicenter of the popular protest of March 17 (17M)”, reported the journalist.

In addition, he specified that the images shared corresponded to the deployment of repressors on the Morro Highway “in front of the Eduardo Chibás monument and in the vicinity of the headquarters of the Communist Party of District #3, Antonio Maceo.”

The photographs, taken from a considerable distance and at night, show a deserted city street full of vehicles from the repressive forces.

Mayeta Labrada indicated that other convoys would be stationed “near Martí Avenue and in the Altamira district, headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), opposition organization led by the political prisoner of conscience, José Daniel García Ferrer”.

“The pressure cooker is about to explode!", concluded the independent journalist, asking his followers to send graphic testimonies and reports about the large police deployment in Santiago de Cuba.

The energy crisis that worsens in Cuba, and which has repercussions on the population in the form of frequent and prolonged blackouts, is once again tenseing the Cuban social landscape, with increasingly evident expressions of discomfort among citizens.

The regime knows this and even foresaw it, as the MININT showed on its social networks in mid-April. According to the repressive institution par excellence of the Cuban regime, the blame for this possible scenario lies with the United States government and politicians from that country who incite public disorder.

“The United States launches new attempts to 'warm' the streets during the summer, taking advantage of the complex situation that the country is experiencing, according to the most recent interests of its intelligence agencies to generate attacks against Cuba, in what they call Operation 11.7.24," said the MININT on the social network X.

Determined to ignore the legitimacy of the Cuban protests, closed to any dialogue with civil society, refused to recognize and make effective human rights in Cuba, especially freedom of the press, expression and association, and betting on its permanence in the power to strategies of confrontation, entrenchment and repression, the Cuban regime is the only one responsible for the possible outbreaks that may occur in the country, similar to those of the 11J and 17M.

On that last occasion, the spark that jumped in Santiago de Cuba spread to other towns, such as Bayamo and Cárdenas. Although the protesters protested spontaneously and peacefully, the regime intercepted internet communications and unleashed repression.