The police of the Cuban regime violently repressed protesters this Thursday in the municipality of Playa, in Havana, according to a video shared on Facebook by journalist Mario J. Pentón under the hashtag #PATRIAYVIDA.
In the 38-second clip, witnesses can be heard exclaiming, "It formed, it formed, look at the crowd," while describing the scene of repression in the streets of the Havana municipality.
This Thursday's event adds to a series of protests that have been taking place in the capital for several days, driven by power outages that in some areas exceed 20 hours a day and a projected electrical deficit nearing 2,000 MW during peak nighttime hours.
Yesterday, residents of Nuevo Vedado took to the streets to protest after experiencing 24 consecutive hours without electricity, in one of the many demonstrations that shook the capital in a single day.
In San Miguel del Padrón, residents gathered in front of the municipal government headquarters with the slogan “Food and Power!”, demanding solutions to a crisis that the regime has neither been able to nor seems willing to resolve.
Also yesterday, residents of Marianao took to the streets with pot banging, bonfires, and burning trash in protest against the prolonged power outages that suffocate the population.
On Wednesday, residents of Luyanó staged a casserole protest and blocked the Calzada de Concha, joining the wave of outrage sweeping through the municipalities of the capital.
The documented repression in Playa reflects a systematic pattern of the regime: the deployment of special forces known as "black berets," plainclothes police, military patrols, and internet blackouts in areas where protests occur.
A report by Cubalex on social militarization in Cuba describes how streets, parks, and residential areas in Havana remain under constant surveillance by police and military patrols, which the organization characterizes as a strategy of social control in response to the growing discontent.
Since March 6, 2026, at least 14 people have been arrested in Havana for participating in pot-banging protests, according to data from Cubalex.
This Thursday morning, messages bearing the slogan "Patria y Vida" and against Díaz-Canel were seen painted on the walls of the city in Havana, signaling that popular resistance does not yield to repression.
The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded 1,133 protests in April 2026, which is a 29.5% increase compared to the same month in 2025, a figure that reflects the sustained escalation of discontent that the regime tries to suppress with violence and arrests, but cannot extinguish.
Filed under: