"They have set fire at every corner": Protests spread across Havana

Dozens of residents took to the streets of Santos Suárez and other municipalities in La Habana on the night of Wednesday, May 13, in the most extensive wave of protests recorded in the capital since July 11, 2021, triggered by power outages of up to 22 hours a day.

The journalist José Raúl Gallego published testimonies sent from Havana that described the magnitude of the events: "All of Santos Suárez is in the street. They have set fire at every corner. I have never seen anything like this since July 11. They cut off the internet. There are many security motorcycles passing by. And I'm told there are more reports from Diez de Octubre like this."

The protests were not limited to Santos Suárez. According to reports from Gallego himself, the hotspots of protest reached Lawton, Playa, Marianao, Guanabacoa, Boyeros, and El Vedado, in addition to Regla, East Havana, San Miguel del Padrón, and Nuevo Vedado.

"The dictatorship is facing a May 13th. Protests in Diez de Octubre, Lawton, Playa, Marianao, Guanabacoa, Boyeros, Vedado. And they're still missing the 20. If all of Cuba rises up, they won't withstand another round," wrote the journalist.

Forms of protest included banging pots and pans, blocking streets, burning garbage, and bonfires. In San Miguel del Padrón, residents gathered outside the municipal government headquarters with the chant "Food and electricity!", while in Reparto Bahía, the cry of "Down with the dictatorship!" was heard during a pot-banging event.

In Nuevo Vedado, residents of Block 1 protested after 24 consecutive hours without electricity, and in Arroyo Naranjo graffiti appeared with "Patria y Vida" and messages against Díaz-Canel on electrical infrastructure.

The energy crisis that triggered the protests reached record levels: the Electric Union reported a generation deficit of 2,113 MW at 8:40 PM on Wednesday, with only 1,230 MW available against a demand of 3,250 MW. The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, justified the situation as a "special case" and admitted to power outages of between 20 and 22 hours daily in some circuits of the capital.

Miguel Díaz-Canel responded via Facebook denying that Cuba is a "failed state," blaming the "genocidal energy blockade" by the United States and acknowledging that the situation is "particularly tense." He admitted that the country needs at least eight fuel ships per month, but that only one arrived between January and April 2026.

The event on Wednesday takes place a day after residents of Luyanó blocked Calzada de Concha during a nighttime protest with pots and pans, and it is part of a sustained escalation: the Observatorio Cubano de Conflictos reported 1,133 protests in April 2026, an increase of 29.5% compared to the same month in 2025, and 1,245 in March, the highest monthly figure since July 11th.

In social media posts, activists and protesters mentioned May 20 —the date of the proclamation of the Cuban Republic in 1902— as a possible day for a new mass mobilization.