The leaders of the Communist Party in Bejucal had to endure the shouts of “Freedom in Bejucal”, “The people united will never be defeated” and “Let them go”, which served as a harangue for the protests on Monday night in that municipality of Mayabeque.
“It’s too much what they have with us,” he told 14ymedio Magalys, who took to the streets with her young son. “People began to touch the cauldrons from their houses, with the blackout, then more people joined and we all met in front of the Party,” she says.
The women marched in their house robes; the men, without a shirt or with a pullover serving as a mask, to avoid identification. All caution is little when it comes to protecting faces: several videos show police officers, cell phones in hand, recording the protesters from afar.
“They did not repress last night because today they will review the videos and go looking for the people they recognize,” Magalys reasons. “It’s the new strategy.”
“They did not repress last night because today they will review the videos and go looking for the people they recognize,” Magalys reasons. “It’s the new strategy”
The woman explains that the town is divided into two electrical circuits and that the blackouts, in shifts, last nine hours. “They turned off the power at nine in the morning and put it on around six,” she says, to which the population, although dissatisfied, has become accustomed. However, two hours later the power supply was cut off again.
“The justification is that the Electric Company had received instructions from the Government to schedule another blackout after two or three hours, because the current deficit is too great in the country,” he says.
“The cries weren’t just ‘turn on the power!’ but ‘freedom, freedom, freedom!’ and ‘let them go!’, says Magalys. “In our circuit, which is where the Party is, they turned on the power right away.”
“Immediately they cut the internet connection, of course,” he adds. The most disappointing thing, Magalys laments, is that half of Bejucal –which already had electricity– stared at the protest as if it had nothing to do with them. “There would be hundreds of people, but I expected more mass. A lot of people were standing at the doors.”
It all ended around 10:00 p.m., without repression, but with a detailed record of the events by the Ministry of the Interior.
“Come on, join in, Caibarién!” and “Cuba, get rid of!” were the harangues of the protest, which extended to La Libertad Park, where the municipal government headquarters is located.
Around the same time, in Caibarién, Villa Clara, a man shouted “the day of freedom could be today!”, while barely recording the protesters’ march with his mobile phone. Women, parents with their children on their shoulders, the elderly, drivers of pedicabs and electric motorcycles advanced through the streets of this municipality of Villa Clara.
“Come on, join in, Caibarién!” and “Cuba, get rid of it!” were the harangues of the protest, which extended to La Libertad Park, where the municipal government headquarters is located. “Yes, you can!” shouted the neighbors when they reached the most central point of the town.
Whoever filmed the demonstration clarified over and over again that it was a peaceful march. “The violence is provided by them,” he said, referring to the beatings by the police and the “rapid response brigades” to repress those who take to the streets.
Several protests like these took place this October 10, a significant date because it is the day of the start of the independence wars on the Isl throughout the national territory. Although there are reports of demonstrations and cacerolazos in other municipalities of Mayabeque such as San José de las Lajas, Güines, Nueva Paz and Jaruco, as well as in other towns of Camagüey, Las Tunas, Holguín and Santiago de Cuba, the information available it is very fragmentary.
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