A poster with the phrase "Down with the dictatorship" appeared painted last Thursday on one of the walls of the José Raúl Capablanca park, located on 15th Street between 44 and 46, in the Playa de La Habana municipality. The discovery was documented on video and shared on social media, where it quickly caught attention for being one of the most direct protest messages seen on the streets of the Cuban capital in recent times.
The discovery was documented on video by Natacha de la Torre Fariñas and her son David García de la Torre, who happened to be passing by the area as it is close to their home. "It's the first time I've seen this in my life. We came by here by chance, it's near our house. For the first time in my life, I can read this on a wall," the visibly surprised woman expressed, describing it as the quietest neighborhood in Havana.
The message adds to a series of protest acts that have proliferated on the walls of the island in recent months. Posters against the regime are spreading across the island.
This is not the first time messages of this kind have appeared on Habana's walls. In 2022, someone painted "Down with Díaz-Canel" near the Metropolitan cinema, an act that also generated significant impact on social media. The persistence of these expressions in public spaces reflects that, despite repression, dissent continues to seek ways to make itself visible.
Citizen discontent is not confined to the walls. Around the same time, a massive pots-and-pans protest just a few blocks from the Central Committee shook Nuevo Vedado, demonstrating the growing frustration of the population in light of a crisis that, as Miguel Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged, absolutely lacks fuel for almost everything.
The figures of repression and protest reflect the magnitude of the crisis. According to recent data, Cuba recorded 229 protests just in March, the highest number since July 11.
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