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 the gathering in real time.
The images show dozens of people gathered in the streets with the pavement wet from recent rain, in a nighttime scene captured from a nearby location.
Gallego described the situation with a brief statement: "Happening now. Protest on Boyeros Avenue, at the entrance to Fontanar. Havana."
In a second video posted minutes later, the journalist reported that the repression did not take long to arrive: "The protest in Fontanar continues. I'm informed that the police have already arrived, with around 10 patrol cars," he noted.
Fontanar is a residential neighborhood located at the intersection of Rancho Boyeros Avenue and Wajay Avenue, near José Martí International Airport.
Its A940 electrical circuit has been experiencing issues due to a generation deficit since September 1, which indicates that prolonged power outages have triggered the protest.
The mobilization in Fontanar is part of a wave of demonstrations 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 holding 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, while a pots and pans protest was reported on N street.
The regime's response pattern to these protests is systematic, involving the massive deployment of personnel from the Revolutionary National Police, the presence of State Security agents, blockades of access to concentration zones, and, in some cases, tactical reconnection of the electricity service to disperse the demonstrators.
Detentions of protesters have also been documented, 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 numerous areas remain in the dark for over 20 hours a day.
The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded 1,415 protests in July, marking the highest monthly total in history, with at least 72 in-person demonstrations across the country—a figure that reflects the extent of a wave of discontent that shows no signs of abating.
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