The Cuban regime militarized the Santa Úrsula Park in Santiago de Cuba on Thursday, in direct response to a new wave of protests characterized by banging pots and pans that spread through several neighborhoods of the eastern city during the night.
The independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, based in the United States, spread from exile the videos and reports sent by citizens inside Santiago de Cuba, documenting protests in at least four different areas of the capital city.
The recordings, made in complete darkness, serve as a denunciation by themselves: they reveal the blackout that the city was experiencing at the exact moment of the protests, with barely one or two hours of electricity per day.
The pot-banging began in Reparto Municipal and quickly spread. Mayeta Labrada reported that pots were also heard in the 18-story buildings of Santiago, just a few meters from the provincial headquarters of the Communist Party of Cuba.
Minutes later, new reports arrived: "Cacerolazos are also being reported from Santa Úrsula and the Hoyo de Chicharrones," published the journalist.
A fourth zone was added: "Cacerolazos from Reparto Portuondo", it documented in another video.
The regime's response was swift. Following the sound of pots and pans, military forces took over Santa Úrsula Park, adhering to the already documented repressive pattern in the city: on June 29, the regime deployed black berets armed with rifles in Chicharrones to intimidate the protesters.
The protests on Thursday were not limited to Santiago. In Havana, residents of La Lisa gathered in front of the PCC headquarters after more than 50 consecutive hours without electricity or water, while pots and pans were banged in the Primelles street of El Cerro, which triggered a heavy police operation with vehicles deployed in the area.
In Regla, dozens of residents took to the streets after more than 24 hours without electricity, chanting "We want to sleep with light; we want to live like people."
Santiago has been experiencing months of continuous protests: on June 18, simultaneous banging of pots and pans resonated throughout all its neighborhoods; on June 19, the protests reached just a few blocks from the provincial headquarters of the PCC.
The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded 1,133 protests in April 2026 alone, a 29.5% increase compared to the previous year.
The Minister of Energy acknowledged that Cuba operated without fuel reserves for months and anticipated that 2026 would be "a difficult year."
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