Dozens of residents of Real Campiña, a rural settlement in the municipality of Aguada de Pasajeros in the province of Cienfuegos, took to the streets this Saturday to demand the restoration of electricity services, which had been completely interrupted for five consecutive days, according to a report by Martí Noticias.
The mobilization was spontaneous. The protesters beat pots and sounded a horn to express their desperation, gathering in front of two symbols of local power: the office of the presidency of the Popular Council and the offices of the zonal nucleus of the Communist Party of Cuba. The authorities were unable to provide any immediate solution.
The neighbor Griceida Morejón specified that the protest had a single trigger: "Yes, it was about the electricity, the water is as we always have it." She also explained that frustration built up as they watched the area drop on the official list for service restoration: "At first, we were at number four, then they moved us down to ten, and when we were at one, they dropped us to thirty-one; that was just too much. We had already been without power for about five days, since Tuesday."
A resident whose message was shared on social media summed up the collective mood with a phrase: "We can't take it anymore."
The power was restored just this Sunday morning, as confirmed by another neighbor, Aurelia Martínez: "They turned it on around 9:30 or 10, since Tuesday." The same woman described the atmosphere of fear that settled after the protest: "We were sitting on the porch and heard the noise, the people making a commotion, but we went inside the house and didn’t know anything about it."
As of the time of the reports, no arrests were known, although the neighbors exhibited a noticeable reticence and refused to elaborate on what had happened.
Real Campiña has a recent history of crises. Last June, the community went 27 days without drinking water and faced power outages lasting up to three consecutive days due to a turbine malfunction.
In July, a truck collided with the Vietnam electrical substation in Aguada de Pasajeros and left more than 9,000 customers in the area without service.
In August, dozens of residents from Cienfuegos protested in front of the Provincial Government headquarters with police presence.
The protest in Real Campiña took place a day after residents of Santa Rita, in the municipality of Jiguaní, Granma, took to the streets shouting "We want electricity!". Also in October, residents of Cabañas, in Artemisa, held two days of protests for the same reason.
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