The Cuban regime has unleashed a wave of arrests against residents of the Las Minas neighborhood in the municipality of Guanabacoa, Havana, who took to the streets to protest during the blackouts due to poverty, hunger, and the crisis that is afflicting the country.
The Cuban content creator Armando Labrador, founder of the Cuba Primero Movement and president of Cántalo TV, described what is happening as a true persecution. He asserts that the arrests in Guanabacoa target the protesters, which he characterized as a "real hunt" by the Castro regime.
In a video shared on social media, a woman can be heard saying to the officers: "They came in a car to take us, but why if we haven't done anything, that's what I don't understand. I need to go to the police station."
The scene summarizes the repressive pattern that the regime applies against those who dare to express their dissatisfaction.
It is not the first time that Guanabacoa is a scene of repression. In a previous protest in the same municipality, witnesses reported that "the police took everyone they could," and at least six people were detained, including a young person of 20 years.
Three of those arrested were released after paying a bail of 25,000 pesos. The others remained in state custody.
Discontent in Guanabacoa is not new. Since December 2025, posters with slogans against Díaz-Canel have appeared on the facades of homes in the municipality, a sign that a historically active population —which also took to the streets on July 11, 2021— has lost its fear of expressing its frustration.
The arrests in Las Minas occur in the context of the most severe crisis Cuba has faced in decades. Since January 3, 2026, U.S. oil sanctions against Venezuela have cut off the island's main crude oil supply, leading to a collapse of the national electric system.
In that context, protests have multiplied across the island. On March 14, protesters vandalized the headquarters of the Communist Party in Morón.
On March 20, residents of Diez de Octubre set up barricades and bonfires. On March 22, Vedado echoed again with pot-banging during the second nationwide blackout in a week.
"Repression intensifies as public discontent grows in the face of an increasingly deepening crisis," warned Labrador.
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