The official newspaper Granma stated this Thursday that the protest in Gibara, Holguín, was resolved thanks to the "frank and tough dialogue" between the leaders and the people and that "there were no violent incidents" because the demonstrators returned to their homes after listening to the first secretary of the Communist Party in the municipality, Nayla Marieta Leyva Rodríguez.
However, the evidence and testimonies gathered on social media and independent media starkly contradict that narrative. Videos show patrols of the National Revolutionary Police arresting protesters during the early hours, and family members reported that at least seven people remain detained, including Pedro José (“Porrón”), Raymundo Galbán (“El Chino”), Dairán Bermúdez (“Chelli”) and Suleidi Aballe.
The manipulation was not limited to Granma. The propaganda television program Con Filo reiterated that in Gibara "there was no repression" and that it was the "morality of the leaders" that managed to "calm" the protest.
Voices like Michel Torres Corona began to wonder how a protest could be “resolved” in such a way, while concealing that the regime's true response was arrests and police intimidation.
The Cuban journalist José Raúl Gallego denounced on social media that Granma and its reporter Germán Veloz Placencia are lying by concealing the arrests and are becoming active accomplices of the repression.
"This is not journalism, it's propaganda. It is a clear indication not only of the lack of independence in the media in Cuba but also of its use as part of the repressive scheme against the people," he wrote on Facebook, noting that the repression has been documented in videos and citizen testimonies.
Citizen complaints and the role of informants
Far from the sweetened version presented by the official press, residents reported that the protest was organized after more than 24 hours without electricity, which also impacted access to water. They took to the streets with pots and shouts of “We want electricity and water!”, fed up with neglect and the crisis.
The project Cuban Repressors also identified two informants from the State Security Department (DSE), Wilder César Tejeda Ruiz and Adrián Pupo Cuesta (“El Mocho”), accused of recording protesters and providing the footage to State Security, which allegedly facilitated the capture of at least seven residents of Gibara.
The strategy of manipulation and repression is not new. A day before Granma published its version on Gibara, the regime initiated a trial against 16 protesters in Bayamo for events that occurred in March 2024.
The Prosecutor's Office accuses them of "public disorder, resistance, and contempt," in a process that activists describe as political and aims to intimidate the population amid new social upheavals.
“They deny the repression in Gibara while imprisoning their neighbors and announcing the start of a trial against protesters from Bayamo. That is the strategy: to deny with propaganda what is, in practice, repression,” denounced José Raúl Gallego.
A community that demands the basics
The protests in Gibara are a reflection of the accumulated frustration in Cuba. Endless blackouts, food shortages, lack of medicine and water drive people to the streets, despite the risk of imprisonment. While the regime insists it is about "dialogue" and "respect," the reality is that those who demand the bare minimum end up behind bars.
“In the only country where someone is arrested for expressing that they are hungry is Cuba,” wrote an internet user in solidarity with the residents of Gibara. Another summarized the widespread sentiment: “They are not criminals, they are just asking for what we all need: light, water, and food.”
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