Residents of Guanabo, a coastal neighborhood in the municipality of Habana del Este, gathered this Monday in front of the local government office to demand solutions due to the simultaneous lack of potable water, brackish water, electricity, and food.
The user Sisi Aguilera shared a video on social media. The footage shows a gathering of people in a park in Guanabo, and you can hear a resident’s voice summarizing the mood of the neighborhood.
"The people of Guanabo are coming together to demand answers because what they are doing to us is abusive," he said.
The protest, described as peaceful, is not an isolated incident in Guanabo. The well-known neighborhood has been experiencing weeks of accumulated crisis. On June 19, there were pot-banging protests in the area with police presence, and a report from June 18 mentioned that the residents "survive amidst blackouts, water shortages, and garbage."
The demonstration this Monday is part of the largest wave of popular protests that Cuba has experienced since July 11, 2021.
Since early June, Havana has been experiencing blackouts lasting between 20 and over 40 consecutive hours, due to a structural energy deficit that the state electrical system itself acknowledges.
The lack of electricity disrupts water pumping, worsens food preservation, and makes homes uninhabitable in the midst of the Caribbean summer, with families sleeping in the street, on porches, on rooftops, and even on the beach to escape the heat and mosquitoes.
On June 17, there were mass protests in Centro Habana, and on June 20, the demonstrations escalated with the burning of garbage and tires in San Miguel del Padrón and La Güinera, as well as pot-banging in Santos Suárez, Regla, and Avenida Carlos III. The most repeated slogans have been "Water and electricity!" and "Down with the dictatorship!"
The regime's response has combined selective restoration of electricity with police deployments, including special forces in black berets.
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