Havana Cuba. – The Cuban Conflict Observatory (OCC) has made public the number of protests that took place in December throughout Cuba. In the last month of the year, in the midst of an oppressive economic and social situation, 692 protests were registered for a total of 3,923 public demonstrations throughout 2022; an amount greater than the 3,300 that occurred in 2021.
Despite the repression that the dictatorship has maintained after the social outbreak of July 11, 2021, Cubans did not stop expressing their rejection of government management. More than half of the protests in December occurred spontaneously, while the rest were organized by different independent civil society groups.
Of the country’s 17 provinces, twelve were the scene of popular demonstrations. The majority were registered in Havana (170), Santiago de Cuba (66) and Villa Clara (41).
Of the total protests that occurred in December, 274 (39.6%) were motivated by the demand for political and civil rights, and included direct summonses against the system (21). The remaining 418 (60.4%) demanded economic and social rights through criticism on social networks, videos or statements to independent media on issues such as growing insecurity, mismanagement by the government, the appalling state of public services, shortages, the high prices caused by inflation and other affectations to the popular economy. There were also organized campaigns against economic stagnation, the government’s investment policy (120) and gender violence (63).
Among the most visible actions was the public booing of the Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso, during the inaugural gala of the Latin American Film Festival; the crowd of consumers who demanded “We want the chicken” in front of a state store; a request, with five hundred signatories, addressed to the National Assembly of People’s Power to define the exercise of the rights of assembly and demonstration, and a sit-down strike at fairs in Santa Clara after the imposition of a new price cap on fruits and vegetables.
In December there were no street protests due to the decrease in blackouts; but despite the harsh Penal Code approved, Cubans continued to denounce the abuses and administrative corruption.
The OCC points out in its report that having appeased citizen anger thanks to the temporary solution of the blackouts does not guarantee a stable situation of governability.
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