Residents of the Sueño neighborhood in Santiago de Cuba staged a new pot-banging protest on Friday during a nighttime blackout, while police presence in the area was reported, according to posts by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada on his social media.
One of the videos shared by Mayeta shows patrols moving through areas plunged into complete darkness, accompanied by the intense sound of pots and pans as the soundtrack to the increasingly prolonged blackouts.
The date, the eve of July 26, a symbolic day for the regime, did not go unnoticed by those who took to banging pots and pans.
The citizens' comments accompanying the published videos reflect a mix of frustration and determination. "The day we stop being afraid and come out together to demand that they leave, that day we will be free. Down with everything," wrote a user on social media.
Other neighbors from different parts of the country have chanted slogans such as "We want light!" and "Freedom!".
The police deployment follows the repressive pattern that the authorities have systematically applied in response to civic protests in the eastern city.
The Sueño neighborhood is not unfamiliar with these protests. In March, its residents demonstrated after nine consecutive days without electricity.
At the end of June, the regime deployed armed black berets with long rifles in Chicharrones to intimidate protesters, and just a few days later militarized Santa Úrsula Park following new protests in various neighborhoods.
On July 21, new casserole protests shook Chicharrones and several areas of Havana.
This Friday, the electricity generation deficit in Cuba neared another historical record, reaching 2,315 MW, just below the maximum of 2,341 MW recorded on July 8, when 73% of the population was without electricity simultaneously.
The magnitude of discontent is reflected in the figures from the Cuban Observatory of Conflicts, which recorded 1,311 protests in May, the highest monthly total known in Cuba's recent history.
In the face of the wave of protests, the ruling Miguel Díaz-Canel chose to blame the U.S. embargo: "Blame the neighbors to the North, who are the ones keeping us in this blackout," he declared on July 4 in an interview with the Puerto Rican weekly Claridad, a response that provoked widespread outrage among Cubans who have been enduring blackouts of more than 20 hours a day for months.
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