Dozens of residents from the neighborhood Ho Chi Minh, in the city of Guantánamo, took to the streets this Friday to demand "answers" and immediate assistance due to the lack of drinking water and electricity following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
The demonstration —which gathered around a hundred people— denounced many days without basic services, food shortages, and a lack of official information about the recovery; the atmosphere remained tense even after the arrival of police and State Security officials, who contributed to disperse the event.
The testimonies collected by José Raúl Gallegos and the media Martí Noticias describe a picture of institutional neglect and social urgency.
“We are desperate. We have no electricity, we have no water, and no one is giving us answers. There are children and elderly people here who cannot continue like this,” said a neighbor who wrote to our editorial team under the condition of anonymity.
The protesters confronted local officials and employees of the electric company.
“This is a dictatorship, the whole world knows it,” the source told our editorial team. “We are not dogs, we are people,” “How long will the abuse continue,” they added.
They also reported that "there are donations there that they want to take" and that they have been "sleeping for days without electricity."
The protest took place on Moncada and 12 Sur streets, in front of the tent where the neighborhood store operates.
According to the activist Miguel Ángel López Herrera, a resident of the area, the discontent escalated when, after months of shortages, only “two pounds of rice” arrived for the families, as reported by Martí Noticias.
"People can't take it anymore. Too many illnesses, without medication. There isn't a single home that hasn't been affected by the hurricane, many without roofs," he stated.
Videos circulated on social media showing the moment when residents demanded the presence of authorities and "an effective response" to the humanitarian crisis.
According to reports, the protest dissipated after the intervention of the police and State Security agents; there were no reports of arrests at the scene, but local sources warned that tensions remain and the restoration of services continues to be uncertain.
Until the closure of the cited testimonies, there were no official statements regarding the residents' complaints nor a clear report on the condition of the electrical and water supply networks in the municipality.
The situation in Ho Chi Minh fits into a regional landscape of damage: hurricane Melissa caused severe impacts in the provinces of Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, and Holguín, with flooding in multiple localities and damage to homes, roads, and electrical and telecommunications networks.
In the provincial capital, residents assert that repair brigades and emergency teams have not yet reached all the critical areas, while prolonged power outages, food shortages, and high temperatures worsen the health and emotional situation of the population.
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