Residents of the La Cuba neighborhood in Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba, reported this Monday a heavy police presence following the appearance of anti-government phrases on multifamily buildings near the park, close to Calle 1 Final.
The phrases "Down with the dictatorship," "Down with Raúl and Fidel," and "Down with communism" appeared on the facades of several residential blocks in the neighborhood, according to information from journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada.
According to the testimony of a resident who contacted Mayeta Labrada, "police officers arrived in a MININT vehicle, accompanied by the sector chief and the delegate, and several people were taken for questioning."
A group of officers remained stationed in a park near the site of the graffiti.
The authorities acted swiftly to erase the slogans: "the graffiti was quickly covered with paint," according to the journalist, and the published photographs show sections of walls freshly painted and a vehicle—apparently a dark green military jeep—surrounded by people on a street of worn cobblestones.
So far, it has not been confirmed how many people were interrogated, whether there are any detainees, or who were responsible for the graffiti.
The source also mentioned possible graffiti at a commercial establishment and reports of an alleged theft of flour and other goods, although Mayeta Labrada himself clarified that these events have not been corroborated.
The episode is part of a pattern that has intensified throughout Cuba in 2026, amidst an energy crisis with power outages lasting between 50 and 80 hours and an extreme shortage of food and basic goods.
The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded 41 anti-government graffiti in June 2026 alone, the highest monthly figure since it began its record in September 2020.
Palma Soriano has a documented history of protest. On July 11, 2021, it was one of the most active municipalities, with hundreds of people in the streets and riot police from MININT suppressing the demonstrators with batons.
In September 2023, after a 15-hour blackout, a poster appeared on a wall in the municipality with the message "Surrender the country" against Díaz-Canel; the National Revolutionary Police responded with experts and dogs to erase the graffiti and investigate the author.
Anyone who paints anti-government slogans in Cuba risks being prosecuted under Article 124 of the Penal Code, which classifies "propaganda against the constitutional order" with penalties ranging from three to eight years in prison, and from four to ten years when physical or digital means are used.
The most recent case is that of the painter Ariel Limias Leyva, formally accused of that crime after protesting with a sign on the steps of the Capitol in Havana at the beginning of October; this Monday, he remained incommunicado at Villa Marista.
Mayeta Labrada summarized the paradox with a phrase that encapsulates the accumulated discontent: "In Cuba, they can cover a wall with paint in a matter of minutes, but that doesn't mean they can erase the discontent that led someone to write about it."
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