A nighttime protest erupted this Friday on Rancho Boyeros Avenue, at the entrance of the Fontanar neighborhood, in the Boyeros municipality of Havana, according to videos shared on Facebook by journalist José Raúl Gallego, who reported on the demonstration in real-time.
The images show dozens of people gathered in the public space with the pavement wet from recent rain, in a nighttime scene captured from a location near the gathering.
Gallego described the situation with a succinct phrase: "Happening now. Protest on Boyeros Avenue, at the entrance of Fontanar. Havana."
In a second video published minutes later, the journalist reported that the repression did not take long to arrive: "The protest in Fontanar continues. I have been informed that the police have already arrived, with around 10 patrol cars," he specified.
Fontanar is a residential neighborhood located at the intersection of Rancho Boyeros Avenue and Wajay Avenue, near José Martí International Airport.
Its electrical circuit A940 has been experiencing issues due to a generation deficit since September 1, indicating that prolonged blackouts are the immediate trigger for the protest.
The mobilization in Fontanar adds to a series of protests that have shaken Havana in recent days.
On September 1st, residents of Vedado closed Avenida 26 after more than 40 hours without electricity. The day before, mothers blocked a street in Arroyo Naranjo with their children in their arms.
In the early hours of the last day of August, a police operation with eight patrol cars and over 30 agents surrounded the El Fanguito neighborhood in Vedado, as a casserole protest was being reported.
The regime's response to these protests is immediate and systematic, involving the massive deployment of personnel from the Revolutionary National Police, the presence of State Security agents, the blocking of access to gathering areas, and in some cases, tactical reconnection of the electricity service to disperse protesters.
There have also been documented detentions of protesters, including mothers with young children.
The energy crisis fueling discontent has reached unprecedented levels, with the National Electric System completely collapsing seven times this year, while many regions remain in darkness for over 20 hours a day.
The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded 1,415 protests in July, the highest monthly total on record, with at least 72 in-person demonstrations across the country, a figure that reflects the extent of an ongoing wave of discontent that shows no signs of abating.
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