Neighbors of the area known as "La Genética," in the Playa municipality of Havana, hit pots and pans this Saturday as a form of protest, in images exclusively shared by journalist and activist Magdiel Jorge Castro from his account on X.
Castro, who worked as a researcher at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), located right across from that neighborhood, emphasized the symbolic weight of the event: "This is a neighborhood of communists and officials... I never thought I would see them protesting."
The activist specified that the images arrived from the location in real time: "Happening right now," he wrote when posting them.
The protests are taking place against a backdrop of prolonged blackouts that exceed 40 hours in the Playa municipality.
The neighborhood "La Genética" is part of the environment of the Scientific Pole of Havana, within the Cubanacán Popular Council, and has historically been inhabited by workers and officials associated with the Cuban state. This makes the clanging of pots and pans an unusual signal, even for those closely following the protests in the capital.
The incident occurred during a particularly intense day of protests in Havana.
In addition to the pot-banging in Playa, residents of San Miguel del Padrón and La Güinera protested by burning tires, and another pot-banging protest was reported on Carlos III Avenue, in Centro Habana.
In parallel to the demonstrations, Cubans reported internet outages that coincided with the increase in street activity.
Playa is one of the municipalities with the highest history of protests in Havana in recent months. On May 14, the police violently suppressed demonstrators in that municipality during a day of protests against power outages.
The electrical crisis fueling these protests reached a deficit of 2,081 MW on Friday, with only 950 MW available against a demand of 2,570 MW, according to data from the Electric Union.
In Havana, power outages have reached between 20 and 22 hours daily, with reports of more than 36 consecutive hours without electricity in some neighborhoods.
Since March 2026, Playa has become one of the most persistent centers of protest in the capital, with documented episodes in Miramar, Jaimanitas, Buenavista, Querejeta, and 70th Avenue.
The wave of protests in June has intensified compared to previous months, with slogans in some areas shifting from demanding electricity and food to including "down with the dictatorship."
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