Residents of Santiago de Cuba took to the streets on Monday in a gathering that was captured on video and shared on social media by the communicator Yosmany Mayeta Labrada.
Although Mayeta initially identified the location as the San Pedrito neighborhood, dozens of commentators familiar with the city immediately corrected the location: the images correspond to the intersection of San Pedro and Martí streets, right in the historical center of Santiago de Cuba, on the edge of the historic district, and not to the outlying San Pedrito neighborhood.
The distinction is significant. San Pedrito is a neighborhood located away from the center, while San Pedro Street runs through the institutional and heritage heart of the city, giving greater symbolic weight to the concentration.
The correction came from multiple voices. "The video you uploaded is of Martí and San Pedro by the pyramid, not of San Pedrito," wrote the user Linda Mendez.
"That's San Pedro and Martí's son," added Manuel Alejandro Grille. "That's Martí and San Pedro, the people from my neighborhood," confirmed Carlos Enrique Fuentes Delgado.
Eddysandra Pozo was more precise: "It's San Pedro, between San Ricardo and Santa Isabel," and she added: "They really did leave, it was on the corner of my house."
A user who claimed to have passed through San Pedrito at that time indicated that the area was calm, which reinforces that the protest took place elsewhere.
The trigger points directly to the electrical crisis. Leagne Reyes Copello reported in the comments: "since early morning, circuit 8 has been without power and it’s 3:23 PM and nothing has changed."
Another user reported having to leave the city center due to a lack of internet connection.
In the video, which shows a large gathering on a street with deteriorating colonial buildings and tangled electric wires, several commentators expressed slogans such as "Freedom for Cuba," "Down with Canel," and "Homeland and Life, Down with communism."
Many responded with relief and support. "Finally, my people from Santiago have woken up," wrote Franklin Naranjo.
"And this time it's not about rolling behind the conga," pointed out Diva Torres.
The protest this Monday is part of a sustained wave of demonstrations in Santiago de Cuba.
Last Wednesday, there were pots and pans protests reported in Reparto Portuondo after more than 12 hours without electricity, and on March 15, protests were recorded in Micro 9 with arrests and a heavy security presence.
Nationally, last Saturday the National Electrical System recorded a maximum impact of 2,041 MW, leaving 51% of the country without electricity simultaneously.
The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded 1,133 protests in Cuba during April 2026, a 29.5% increase compared to the same month in 2025, a trend that shows no signs of reversing.
As a commentator summarized in the debate over the exact name of the place: "It doesn't matter if it's San Pedro, San Pedrito, or San Perico... a weary town protesting... it's not easy."
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