A video circulated on social media shows a massive security forces operation on Friday night in El Diezmero, a neighborhood in the San Miguel del Padrón municipality, in the east of Havana, amid reports of demonstrations in various locations across the Cuban capital.
The images, published by the user Elio Rafael Sosa, reveal at least two patrol cars, a truck, and a van, as well as several dozen uniformed officers deployed in the area in front of a group of neighbors who were protesting by shouting and blocking the roadway with branches and solid waste. The vehicles, parked in a line, bore signs reading "Police."
The citizen journalist Yainier Hidalgo Bajuelo confirmed the event on Facebook: "Reports of a police presence in El Diezmero, San Miguel del Padrón. Amid reports of demonstrations in various parts of Havana, images shared on social media show a significant police deployment in El Diezmero."
The very title of the viral video encapsulates the sentiments of those sharing it: "Military deployment in El Diezmero, the Americans didn't arrive, it's against a defenseless people".
The operation takes place on the eve of July 26, a key date on the Cuban regime's calendar. Far from celebrations, Havana is in turmoil: on Friday, women blocked the 10 de Octubre Road due to water shortages and power outages, while in Lawton, pots and pans clanged with pots and fire extinguishers as part of a national call for a pot-banging protest at 9:00 p.m.
San Miguel del Padrón is one of the municipalities in Havana with the most significant history of conflict in 2026: in May, residents protested in front of the municipal government with the slogan "Electricity and food!"; in June, there were tire burnings; and on July 22, a bonfire was reported in La Cumbre.
The trigger for the unrest is the power outages that in some areas exceed 20 to 24 hours a day, which also hinder the pumping of drinking water.
The deployment in El Diezmero follows a pattern that the regime has repeated throughout July: on July 18, black berets from the National Special Brigade of MININT were deployed in El Vedado, and on July 12, police and paramilitary forces were concentrated in Old Havana during the protests marking the anniversary of July 11.
Cubalex recorded 319 repressive events and 253 demonstrations in June 2026 alone, while the Cuban Conflict Observatory counted 107 protests during that month, nearly double the previous record.
The lawyer Laritza Diversent, director of Cubalex, was straightforward in assessing the regime's strategy: «The militarization is not aimed at an external enemy but at the Cuban population itself».
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