Residents of Vedado, in Havana, blocked Avenida 26 on Tuesday after enduring more than 40 consecutive hours without electricity, in a new escalation of protests against blackouts that have been affecting the neighborhood throughout 2026.
The action, which involved the closure of the road and during which several people banged their pots and pans in the middle of the street, was documented by the activist Salomé García Bacallao in her Facebook posts about the protest.
Shortly after the concentration began, García Bacallao warned that "the military operation to repress the protest on 26th Street has already begun."
The nighttime images accompanying their complaint show vehicles with flashing blue lights—indicative of police presence—and people gathered on the street with candles or small lights, taken from an elevated floor of the surrounding residential buildings.
The closure of a major artery like Calle 26 represents an escalation from the traditional cacerolazo: it involves the active occupation of public space and the direct obstruction of traffic, which increases the visibility of the protest and, alongside it, the repressive response from the regime.
The episode is not isolated. El Vedado has become a recurring epicenter of citizen outrage over blackouts: on Monday there was a pot-banging protest after more than 24 hours without power, and in July the neighbors took to the streets after enduring over 30 hours without electricity.
In June, the protests spread to Centro Habana, Playa, Regla, and other municipalities, and the presence of police and special forces was the typical response from the regime.
The day before, a police operation surrounded the residents of Fanguito amid another protest over power outages, confirming the pattern of containment that the authorities systematically apply in response to any display of discontent.
The energy background explains the accumulation of discomfort. The Electric Union (UNE) reported this Tuesday a available generation of only 960 MW against a demand of 2,910 MW, with a forecasted deficit of 2,280 MW. Cuba ended August with an impact of 2,410 MW during peak hours, nearing the monthly record of 2,411 MW set on August 11.
During the last week of August, between 65% and 72% of the country was left without electricity simultaneously during peak hours, according to data from the UNE reported by Infobae. So far this year, the National Electroenergetic System has experienced at least seven total collapses, two of which occurred in less than 48 hours at the beginning of August.
The aging thermoelectric infrastructure, the lack of fuel, and insufficient maintenance are sustaining a crisis that is already the worst in decades. For most Cubans, going without electricity for about 20 hours a day has become the norm, rather than the exception.
The state response pattern—surrounding protest areas with patrols and special forces, and in some cases making arrests or cutting off internet access—repeats itself every time the residents decide to take to the streets, without the regime having offered real solutions to the crisis that drives them to protest.
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