Neighbors from the Jaimanitas neighborhood, in the Playa municipality of Havana, took to the streets on Sunday to protest against the prolonged blackouts that are suffocating the area, in a mobilization documented by independent journalist Yunia Figueredo through posts on her Facebook profile.
The images shared by Figueredo show dozens of people gathered on 5th Avenue, in front of the neighborhood library, both at sunset and as night fell.
«Things heated up in Jaimanitas. They brought the energy! Cuban street! Freedom», wrote the journalist while sharing the photographs of the gathering.
Hours before the protest, Figueredo had reported on the same social media platform that she had been without electricity for 23 hours: «Down with the dictatorship, damn it. This is unbearable».
Upon seeing the mobilization of her neighbors, she celebrated the outcome with another message: "How proud I feel today of my Jaimanitas. ¡We planted the seed, and here is the result! They finally awoke!".
The protest comes at a time when the electricity deficit in Cuba is reaching historic highs: the Electric Union projected a deficit of 2,230 MW for the Sunday night peak, with 11 thermal units out of service—six due to breakdowns and five under maintenance.
In Havana, power outages have exceeded 20 and even 33 hours a day across various circuits, with 72% of Cuban territory affected by blackouts at the beginning of July.
Jaimanitas is not a new scene of resistance. The Playa municipality has consolidated itself as one of the main centers of protest in the capital since March 2026, with recurring episodes in Jaimanitas, Miramar, Buenavista, Querejeta, and Santa Fe.
Figueredo herself was against the blackouts in the neighborhood; she was released hours later because her minor daughters were left alone.
The mobilizations in July are part of a growing wave of protests: in June, 107 street protests were recorded across Cuba, nearly double the previous high of 54 in March, with Havana accounting for 82 of them.
The slogans have progressively escalated: from "We want electricity!" to "Freedom!" and "Down with the dictatorship!", indicating that citizen discontent goes beyond the energy crisis and directly targets the regime.
On Sunday, cacerolazos were also reported in Santa Fe, according to Martí Noticias, confirming that the mobilization spread to various locations in the Playa municipality.
The protests in July occur just days before the fifth anniversary of the July 11, 2021, the largest popular mobilizations in Cuba in decades, which adds significant symbolic weight to the current demonstrations.
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