The congas of the Feast of Saint Peter in Santiago de Cuba took place this Monday, accompanied by a massive presence of police, uniformed officers, and members of the so-called "black berets," in an operation that spanned nearly all neighborhoods of the city where the celebrations occurred.
The independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada reported on the operation occurring in various neighborhoods under the headlines “San Pedro under police surveillance” and “Monitored culture: 'La Johnson' fills Santiago's congas with police and black berets to suppress in case of protests,” sharing visual evidence of patrols and members of the National Special Brigade mingled among the participants.
In the neighborhood San Pedrito, the situation was more serious: residents reported that the conga was interrupted shortly after it began, without any official explanation from the authorities regarding what happened.
The scene was paradoxical: a celebration that has historically been a symbol of joy and popular spontaneity was transformed into a parade guarded by security forces, which raised the inevitable question among the people of Santiago: what is the regime afraid of?
The response has a clear context. The Cuban regime authorized the congas just a day before, on Sunday, after two consecutive years—2024 and 2025—during which the celebrations of San Juan Day were suspended.
On June 24th, the police had blocked the route of the Conga Los Hoyos on Paseo de Marte, internally citing the "political-ideological situation" of the city. Dozens of residents waited for hours without the event taking place.
The authorization of the San Pedro congas was interpreted by analysts and by Mayeta Labrada himself as a controlled release valve, rather than a genuine gesture towards popular culture.
The journalist had anticipated it on June 27 with a direct question: "Are the congas returning for tradition or for convenience?"
The regime's fear has a proper name: the cry "¡Súbelo, Mayeta!", which has become a symbol of the accumulated frustration in Santiago de Cuba, expressing the rejection of communism and the demands for electricity, water, and food.
In previous years, that popular outcry has seeped into the congas themselves, transforming the cultural celebration into a massive protest.
This frustration is not abstract. Santiago de Cuba has been experiencing a sustained escalation of pot-banging and protests since at least May 2026, driven by blackouts of up to 22 hours a day related to the breakdown of the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant, as well as shortages of water, food, and fuel.
On the same Monday, while the congas roamed the city, in the neighborhood Chicharrones, there were pot-banging protests to which the regime responded with a command of black berets armed with rifles.
The protests in Santiago are not isolated incidents. On June 18, mass demonstrations were documented across the city, and between May 30 and 31, there were pot-banging protests in Micro 3 and El Salao, along with tire burning in Los Pinos. In June 2026, at least 109 protests were recorded throughout Cuba.
A voice captured in one of the videos of Mayeta Labrada bluntly summarized what the cameras were witnessing: "Every day there are fewer people at the conga. Can you imagine, at high noon? Hey, but every day there are fewer."
The day left, according to the journalist himself, "an unusual sight: congas escorted and monitored by a large police presence, in a celebration that has historically been a symbol of joy, spontaneity, and free tradition in Santiago de Cuba."
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