Neighbors of Centro Habana took to the streets on Tuesday night to protest against power outages with a pot-banging demonstration in front of the Lázaro Peña theater, in the Cayo Hueso neighborhood, and continued the protest even after the authorities restored electrical service in the area.
In a video shared with our editorial team, residents are seen banging pots in the middle of the street while chanting slogans that go beyond the demand for electricity.
"We want freedom, not oppression," can be heard shouted by several protesters, who also chanted slogans like "Freedom!", "Wounded homeland!", and "Homeland and Life!".
According to the images, the power supply returned when the protest had already gained momentum, a response that neighbors and activists have pointed out on other occasions as a strategy used by authorities to quell demonstrations triggered by blackouts.
However, the return of electricity did not put an end to the pot-banging. The protesters continued to bang their pots for several minutes before dispersing.
Protests in various locations in Havana
The mobilization in Centro Habana was part of another night of protests in various municipalities of the capital.
Casserole protests were also reported in Alamar, where residents set fire to piles of garbage to block a road; in La Hata, a municipality in Guanabacoa; as well as in Jaimanitas and Arroyo Arenas.
In La Hata, residents of shelters protested near buildings designated for military personnel, highlighting the stark contrast between the conditions of those facilities — which feature gardens, lighting, and better finishes — and the temporary homes where numerous families are living.
An energy crisis that fuels discontent
The protests are occurring amidst the severe electrical crisis facing Cuba.
Last Monday, the island experienced its seventh total collapse of the National Electric System in just 18 months, and the third in 2026, following the shutdown of Unit 6 at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant in Camagüey.
Although the system was resynchronized early Wednesday morning, generation remains far below demand. On Wednesday morning, availability barely reached 1,000 MW against a demand of 2,750 MW, while for peak hours, Unión Eléctrica forecasted a deficit exceeding 2,000 MW.
The prolonged blackouts are affecting the entire country. In some areas of Matanzas, outages are reported to exceed 87 consecutive hours, while in Granma, there are locations without service for more than 72 hours. In Havana, daily outages average around 15 hours, according to official reports and citizen complaints.
The crisis is worsening due to fuel shortages. Cuba has gone several months without receiving new shipments of oil, and its national production, estimated at around 40,000 barrels per day, is well below the 90,000 to 110,000 barrels needed to sustain the electricity generation system.
Social protest is growing
The increase in blackouts has been accompanied by a rise in protests.
According to the Cuban Conflict Observatory, during June, 107 street protests were recorded on the island, the highest monthly figure documented by that organization, of which 82 took place in Havana.
In a recent interview with the Puerto Rican weekly CLARIDAD, Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged that Cuba is facing "a shortage of transportation, food, and medicine" as well as "prolonged blackouts lasting more than twenty hours." However, he once again attributed the crisis to the U.S. embargo and urged Cubans: "Bang the pots of your neighbors to the north, they are the ones who have us in this blackout".
The images shared from Centro Habana show that, for many protesters, the demonstrations are no longer limited to demanding the restoration of electrical service, but express a broader discontent with the situation in the country.
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