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Residents of the Zamora neighborhood in the Marianao municipality of Havana took to the streets on Wednesday, July 1st, to protest against power outages and water shortages, in a demonstration documented on Facebook by resident Zea Gisselle.
“ZAMORA IN PROTEST! More than 24 hours without electricity, days without water. HERE WE LIVE AS HUMAN BEINGS, WE ARE NOT ANIMALS,” wrote Gisselle, who described the atmosphere of outrage in the neighborhood as residents chanted “Freedom!”
According to his testimony, at 10:00 PM the authorities restored the electricity service for just five minutes, which many interpreted as a maneuver to calm the situation without addressing the underlying problem.
The author of the testimony denounced the contradiction that enrages Cubans: “They have fuel to patrol the neighborhood and repress, but not to maintain the country with guaranteed basic services.”
During the protest, an anonymous neighbor expressed the level of despair felt in the neighborhood: "In the end, neither will they leave, nor will we be able to oust them. It's better for Cuba to disappear, even if it means we have to disappear too."
"There is a town that prefers death itself rather than let them stay in power," Gisselle wrote as she concluded her post. "I see hope and courage being born."
Zamora is not an isolated case nor is it a neighborhood protesting for the first time. The Marianao neighborhood has a history of resistance in 2026 that has earned it the nickname "the border of light", according to a report by El Toque. In May and June, there had already been reports of pot-banging and street blockades at the intersection of 124th and 35th streets.
In those earlier protests, a mother was detained and handcuffed for asking for food for her child, fined 30 Cuban pesos, and threatened with having her child taken away if she demonstrated again.
The protest on July 1 is part of a wave of demonstrations that analysts consider the most extensive since July 11, 2021. In May alone, 1,311 protests were recorded across the country, the highest monthly figure since that uprising. The organization Cubalex documented an additional 109 protests in June.
The slogans have escalated from "We want power!" to "Down with the dictatorship!" and "Freedom!", reflecting a frustration that is no longer just material but political.
The regime has responded with a dual strategy: specific concessions—briefly restoring electricity after the demonstrations, sending water trucks—and systematic repression. In June, at least 38 arrests were documented, including six minors.
The energy crisis fueling this discontent is structural. The generation deficit reached a historic record of 2,208 MW on June 25 and 26, leaving nearly 70% of the country without electricity at the same time. Nine of the 16 thermoelectric units are out of service.
The day after the Zamora protest, residents of La Lisa gathered in front of the Communist Party headquarters after more than 50 hours without electricity, and on Thursday the pot-banging protests continued in Santiago de Cuba, El Cerro, El Vedado, and Regla, with the regime responding by militarizing the neighborhoods.
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