A protest with pot-banging on Primelles Street, in the municipality of El Cerro, triggered a heavy police presence in the heart of the Cuban capital on Wednesday night, as documented by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada on his Facebook account.
The photographs published by Mayeta Labrada, taken from an elevated balcony, show a van with the inscription "Police" and other official vehicles parked on the street, while neighbors watched from doorways and sidewalks in the midst of the nighttime darkness.
The cacerolazo in Primelles occurs just 24 hours after residents of Salud Street, in Centro Habana, staged a daytime protest after more than 28 hours without electricity, gas, or water.
El Cerro is one of the municipalities most affected by the service crisis in Havana. A technical failure in the manufactured gas network left between 208,000 and 284,000 customers without supply in eight Havana municipalities, including El Cerro, as reported by the Manufactured Gas Company.
The municipality has a history of protests in 2026: on June 25, residents blocked streets demanding water and electricity after days without both services, and in March, there had already been nighttime protests with pots and pans following days of complete power outages.
The energy crisis fueling discontent reached a record electrical deficit of 2,208 MW on June 25, with blackouts lasting up to 22 hours daily in Havana and over 33 hours in some circuits. More than 376,000 residents of Havana lack regular access to drinking water.
The slogans in the streets of Havana have escalated from "We want electricity!" to "Down with the dictatorship!" and "Freedom!", in what analysts consider the most extensive wave of protests since July 11, 2021.
The organization Cubalex documented 109 protests across Cuba just in June 2026, while the Cuban Conflict Observatory recorded 1,245 in March and 1,133 in April, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 29.5%.
The regime has systematically responded with police deployments, special forces known as "black berets," internet outages, and arrests.
On June 26, seven people —including four minors— were arrested in Havana amid protests over blackouts, and at least 14 individuals have been detained in the capital since March 6 in connection with this type of demonstration.
In June, protesters on San Lázaro Street were able to physically push back police officers during a nighttime demonstration after more than 20 hours without electricity, in an image that circulated widely among Cubans both on and off the Island.
A neighbor from Havana summarized the prevailing mood in statements collected by Havana Times: "almost everyone is now banging on a pot."
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