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New and strong popular protests broke out this Wednesday in various locations across Havana, with pot-banging, anti-communist slogans, and blocked streets reported simultaneously in different municipalities of the Cuban capital.
The journalist Mario J. Pentón reported on his social media about nighttime protests in the neighborhoods of Lawton, Luyanó, and Santo Suárez, which are part of the Diez de Octubre municipality.
"Strong protests in Diez de Octubre: Lawton, Luyanó, and Santo Suárez; pots and pans and anti-communist slogans can be heard," wrote Pentón.
In parallel, the same journalist reported demonstrations in Guanabacoa, on Calzada Vieja, where neighbors also recorded pot-banging and street closures.
Shortly after, he added videos of residents from Puentes Grandes in the streets, after more than 20 hours without electricity.
The protests this Thursday are not an isolated event, but rather the latest manifestation of a wave of discontent that has intensified since March 7, 2026, when widespread pot-banging began to spread across multiple neighborhoods in the capital and other provinces.
In the days leading up to it, there had already been a protest in front of the government headquarters in San Miguel del Padrón with the slogan "Electricity and food!", a pot-banging protest in Reparto Bahía with chants of "Down with the dictatorship!", a blockade on Calzada de Concha in Luyanó, and bonfires in Marianao in the early hours of this same Thursday.
The immediate trigger is the worst energy crisis of the year. On Wednesday, the Electric Union recorded a record impact of 2,113 MW at 8:40 PM, the largest electrical deficit recorded so far in 2026, surpassing the previous maximum of 2,075 MW from March 6.
Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged on his Facebook account that the situation of the National Electric System was "particularly tense," projecting a deficit exceeding 2,000 MW for the nighttime peak.
In some circuits in Havana, blackouts have reached between 20 and 22 hours a day, as acknowledged by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy.
The minister himself acknowledged that Cuba did not receive any fuel ships from December 2025 until the end of March 2026, except for a Russian donation of 100,000 tons of crude oil, which only provided temporary relief in April.
The neighborhoods where the protests took place this Thursday—Lawton, Luyanó, Santo Suárez, and Guanabacoa—are historically working-class areas that have been severely affected by deteriorating infrastructure and a lack of basic services.
The regime's response to the rising conflict has included arrests: at least 14 people have been detained in Havana linked to protests since March 6.
The Cuban Conflict Observatory recorded 1,133 protests just in April 2026, which is a 29.5% increase compared to the same month of the previous year, reflecting a sustained upward trend in social conflict across the island.
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