MIAMI, United States. – The non-governmental organization Justicia 11J reported that, between October 18 and 24, 2024, 48 public protests were registered in Cuba related to the total blackout that left the country without electricity service for more than four days.
“We have updated the number of protests related to this scenario to 48, which we have been able to verify,” the NGO said in a Facebook post.
Although the largest number of demonstrations was reported in Havana, events were also recorded in Artemisa, Camagüey, Granma, Holguín, Mayabeque, Sancti Spíritus, Santiago de Cuba and Villa Clara.
According to the type of action and in accordance with its classification system, Justicia 11J indicated that “in most of the protests, banging pots and pans (34) were documented, but also posters, street closures, walks and protests in front of state institutions, among others. actions.”
The organization reported the arrests of Raymond Márquez, Narbiel Torres and Osvaldo Agüero in Manicaragua, Villa Clara; and of Luis Adrian Pupo in Songo La Maya, Santiago de Cuba. Likewise, he reported that he does not know the current situation of Javier Zaldívar, from Nuevitas, Camagüey, who was also arrested.
“We are searching and verifying information about arrests reported in various places in Havana. We also learned of a group of detainees who were already being held in the Combinado del Este,” added Justicia 11J.
Finally, the NGO called for citizen collaboration: “We ask family members and citizens for collaboration to record all arrests and know the status and identities of the protesters. “We guarantee the protection of sources that do not wish to be identified.”
In the midst of the total blackout, the Cuban ruler, Miguel Díaz-Canel, threatened to citizens who protested the energy collapse. In the video of a meeting released by the Presidency’s office, Díaz-Canel assured that his government was not going to accept or allow “anyone to act causing vandalism and much less altering the citizen tranquility of our people.”
“That is a conviction and that is a principle of our Revolution,” concluded the ruler, whose “battle array” during the demonstrations of July 11, 2021 It has transcended as a call for civil war between Cubans.
The ruler also assured that there was “all the willingness and all the capacity and all the deployment and scope of the systems” contemplated by the regime “to respond (…) to any concern, as long as it is done in a civilized, organized manner. and in a disciplined manner.”
Immediately, Díaz-Canel’s statements caused a wave of indignation on social networks. The user Gєl remembered that “protest is a right” and addressed Díaz-Canel directly: “What more are you going to ask of the Cuban people? Three days of blackout, no food, no water, no gas and you can’t even complain, really?
“cowardly tyrant”, said the Cuban-American doctor Carlos H. Recio to Díaz-Canel. “You threaten a people without electricity, without food, without medicine, without transportation, in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis after 65 years of absolute power and having destroyed the nation. Criminals against humanity,” he concluded.
