A protest featuring the sounds of pots and shouts against the regime leaders erupted this Saturday in Old Havana, on the fifth anniversary of the historic mobilizations of July 11, 2021, as documented by CubaNet Noticias in a video posted on Facebook.
While citizens demonstrate, the regime responds by deploying police and paramilitary forces at the municipal headquarters of the Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) in the area, a maneuver that reflects the heightened state of alert in which the dictatorship finds itself ahead of the commemorative date.
"While the people protest with pot banging and shouts against the leaders, the regime is gathering police and paramilitary forces at the municipal headquarters of the PCC," CubaNet reported.
The protest in Old Havana is not an isolated event. In the Reparto Nalón, in Guanabacoa, residents held a strong pot-banging demonstration after more than 33 hours of blackout.
The regime not only deployed forces at strategic points in the capital. Berta Soler and the Ladies in White reported that State Security agents surrounded their homes this Saturday to prevent any commemoration of the anniversary.
The most visible symbol of repression on this day is the case of the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, whose five-year sentence ended on July ninth, but who remains missing after being taken from the Guanajay prison by State Security on July seventh without notification to his family. Amnesty International described the situation as enforced disappearance and demanded his immediate release.
The context in which these protests occur is of extreme gravity. Cuba reports between 1,260 and 1,306 political prisoners, the highest number ever documented, and 338 individuals remain imprisoned for their participation in the 11J protests of 2021, excluded from the April 2026 pardon.
The energy and economic crisis serves as the main trigger for popular mobilization. Blackouts last for up to 72 hours consecutively in some areas, the informal dollar is priced at 670 pesos, and GDP is contracting between 6.5% and 15%, according to estimates.
That collapse scenario explains the record level of street discontent: in June 2026 alone, 107 protests were recorded nationwide, nearly double the previous record of 54, documented in 2024.
Five years since the largest social uprising in Cuba since 1959, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances has initiated an urgent action and set July 25, 2026 as the deadline for the regime to submit an official report on the whereabouts of Otero Alcántara.
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