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Cuban residents in New York gathered this Saturday at noon in front of the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the UN, at 315 Lexington Ave, Manhattan, to hold a pot-banging protest demanding freedom for Cuba and against the oppression of the communist regime.
The journalist Mario J. Pentón confirmed the protest from the site with a message summarizing the spirit of the day: "In New York, with a cortadito in hand and my Cubans ready to bang pots in front of the dictatorship's headquarters."
The announcement was shared since Friday by Cuba Libre Network on social media under the slogan "One voice, worldwide" and the direct call: "Bring your pot. Make yourself heard."
Among the prominent figures leading the mobilization are Dr. Félix E. Roque, former mayor of West New York, New Jersey, and retired Colonel of the United States Army, and Bárbara Cambón, president of the Cuban and Latino Parade, one of the most visible civic expressions of the Cuban community in New York.
Roque, a physician by profession, is a recognized voice of Cuban-American activism in the northeast of the country. In December 2014, when the Obama administration announced the restoration of diplomatic relations with Havana, he stated: "Today is a sad day for all of us who, like me, left everything we knew because of communism."
The protest this Saturday is part of a global wave of mobilizations by the Cuban diaspora that in 2026 has reached over 120 cities worldwide, featuring gatherings, caravans, and marches coordinated from Miami to Madrid.
The trigger for this escalation is the historical record of political prisoners in Cuba: 1,250 verified inmates in March 2026, according to the organization Prisoners Defenders, with a total of more than 2,000 since the protests of July 11, 2021.
In recent months, Cubans have rallied in Madrid, Miami, and other cities during international days of protest, and also in front of the Cuban consulate in Barcelona, organized by the European Ibero-American Alliance Against Communism.
In the United States, caravans and gatherings have traveled through several cities, including Las Vegas, where the Cuban community overflowed the streets in a caravan for freedom.
The Trump administration has maintained a stance of maximum pressure on the Cuban regime, issuing ultimatums for the release of political prisoners that Havana has systematically rejected.
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