The increase in protests expresses “the population’s boredom” in the face of a “multisystem crisis,” according to the Cuban Conflict Observatory (OCC).
MIAMI, United States. – The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts (OCC), belonging to the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, registered in 2025 some 11,268 “protests, complaints and statements critical of the regime” on the Island, an increase of “a little more than 25%” compared to the 8,443 compiled in 2024.
The end of the year was marked by a sustained increase, with five consecutive months above 1,000 reports, until reaching a new historical monthly record of 1,333 entries in December, seven more than the 1,326 in November.
According to the OCC report sent to CubaNetthe increase expresses “the population’s boredom” in the face of a “multisystem crisis” and a greater willingness to express discontent, despite the risk of retaliation. In this context, the “Challenges to the Police State” category remained the most numerous and averaged 319 monthly entries between June and December. In December, this classification reached 342 reports, the highest number within the monthly record.
The report indicates that these actions included 13 in-person protests with “banging pots and pans,” “street closures with burning barricades,” shouts of “Freedom” and “throwing bottles at the Police,” mainly in Havana. It also collects criticism in publications on social networks, newspaper articles and statements to the media, as well as comments on independent platforms and on sites linked to the Government.
Among the claims associated with economic and social rights, the OCC ranked second in the “Food-Inflation-Agriculture” category, with 199 protests and complaints in December. The document describes scenes of desperation linked to shortages and prices, such as “dozens of Alamar residents running after a truck carrying rice” and the regulated “panecillo” “so tiny that it could be eaten in a single bite” in Central Havana.
The report adds that many families gave up roast pork on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve because they could not pay “between 850 and 1,000 pesos per pound” with devalued salaries and pensions.
“Citizen insecurity” rose to third place on the ranking in December, with 194 reports, “90 more than in November,” according to the OCC press release. In that period, the Observatory counted 17 murders or homicides; reported 15 missing people, four of them during trips within the country, and recorded 43 crimes of theft. The document also details that five cases of theft and slaughter of livestock were reported and that thefts from the State increased “considerably (17).”
The health crisis also occupied a central place in the December balance. The “Public Health” category accumulated 184 protests and complaints, mainly associated with the dengue and chikungunya epidemicwhich the report describes as a phenomenon that collapsed the system, “lacking reagents, hydrating serums, medications and insecticides”, with a greater impact on children, the elderly and people with comorbidities.
The OCC maintains that, while the Ministry of Public Health recognized 55 deaths from arboviruses, the Observatory documented 95 “through simple queries and searches in the media and social networks.”
Regarding public services, the OCC recorded 157 demonstrations of discontent in December, including 13 street protests, 10 of them in Havana. The report states that, during the month, “three negative records” were established in the electricity generation deficit and that the cuts extended up to 12 hours in the capital and 30 hours in the provinces. In that section, the document recalls the article of The New York Times which reveals that Havana, while alleging a lack of fuel to justify blackouts, resold in Asia “a large part of the oil that Venezuela sent it.”
The OCC also reported 154 “repressive acts” in December, with complaints about methods of attrition against political prisoners and actions against activists, opponents and independent journalists around December 10, International Human Rights Day. The press release adds that, during the end-of-year festivities, “a new police offensive” was launched against informal market operators, self-employed workers and owners of micro, small and medium-sized private companies.
In the social area, the Observatory counted 71 reports in the “Other social problems” category, which include complaints about child labor and homelessness, Compulsory Military Service, the lack of teachers and the advance of synthetic drugs. In “Housing”, the OCC registered 32 complaints or protests, focused on the situation of damaged homes after Hurricane Melissa in the east of the country, new flooding in Villa Clara and building collapses in Havana.
The document closes with a public warning from comedian Ulises Toirac, cited by the Observatory, in which he warns: “The leadership of this country has a big problem: the deterioration of the life of the majority in the different areas (food, electricity, hygiene, transportation, connectivity, health, education, etc.), has reached a point where a hair in the soup overwhelms the reaction.”
