The pots and pans protests returned this Sunday to the streets of Centro Habana, marking a new indication of the growing public discontent over the blackouts that continue to affect the Cuban capital.
Reports circulated on social media by independent journalists and residents of the area indicated neighborhood protests in districts like Cayo Hueso and San Lázaro, where residents took to the streets to express their dissatisfaction after enduring long hours without electricity service.
Journalist Camila Acosta shared a video of a pot-banging protest in Cayo Hueso, while other users reported similar protests in various areas of Centro Habana. "Epic pot-banging protest in San Lázaro, Centro Habana. Making noise until the lights came on... and a little more," wrote user Adolfo Nelson Ochagavía Callejas on Facebook along with a video recorded from a building in the area.
The new protests come just one day after residents of Cayo Hueso staged another massive protest to denounce that they had received only an hour and a half of electricity in nearly two days.
According to testimonies shared on social media, the outrage grew when certain sectors regained service for less than an hour before experiencing another outage.
"They turned on the electricity for just 45 minutes and then the blackout happened again. How much longer will this last?" quoted the page La Tijera News while reporting the testimony of a resident of Centro Habana.
The repetition of protests in less than 24 hours reflects the deterioration of a situation that many residents of Havana consider unsustainable. For weeks, residents from different municipalities in the capital have reported outages of more than 15 and even up to 20 hours daily, amid one of the worst energy crises recorded in Cuba in recent years.
Centro Habana has become one of the main centers of this discontent. In March, there were protests with pots and pans on Neptuno and Hospital, as well as on Salud and Belascoaín. More recently, on May 26, residents of Zanja and Hospital also protested against power outages.
The demonstrations coincide with a critical situation for the National Electric System. In recent days, the Electric Union has reported deficits close to 2,000 megawatts, while several generating units remain out of service due to breakdowns or maintenance.
The crisis worsened further with the recent breakdown of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, one of the country's main generating facilities, just hours after it had been reconnected to the grid.
The videos spread this Sunday show streets that are almost in darkness and the sound of pots being banged from balconies and buildings, a form of protest that has become increasingly common in various parts of Cuba as power outages deepen.
So far, no violent incidents have been reported, nor have there been any official statements regarding the pot-banging protests that took place in Centro Habana on the night of this Sunday.
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