Havana Cuba. – Power outages in the province of Mayabeque, generally at night and early in the morning, have increased in recent weeks, reaching more than 12 hours without electricity. This situation has provoked a wave of complaints and criticism against the island’s regime.
In response to publications that supposedly incited Cubans “to take to the streets” due to the recurring blackouts, more than 30 Internet users residing in the municipality of Bejucal (Mayabeque) were summoned this week to the Municipal Unit of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR). ).
“I was summoned in person by two PNR agents from my municipality, whom I know personally so I know they are not the clearest example of decorum. They came to my house to inform me that I had to report to the Police Unit the next day,” he told CubaNet a young housewife living in Bejucal, interviewed on condition of anonymity.
“That day we were about 20 people and we were there for the same reason: to publish on different social networks (Facebook, Instagram and even WhatsApp) our disagreement with the Government, with the blackouts and with all the shortcomings and needs that Cubans experience day after day. day,” he added.
“Many of us were threatened claiming that they knew of any ‘illicit’ activity we were doing. In particular, they pointed out to me that they knew that I bought combos through the TuEnvío application to later resell them, and that I also resold various other things. They told me that they had let me do it until now, but they also threatened me with ending up behind bars if I kept posting that kind of stuff on Facebook. They are the same methods used by gangsters, they let us know that they can do with our lives what they want, “said the young woman.
Some of the Internet users, summoned “for the purpose of talking”, questioned in the police unit the difference in duration between the power cuts in the Mayabeque and Artemisa provinces and those applied in many areas of the capital.
“We asked the officials why the blackouts are only for the most rural municipalities, while in most areas of the capital the effects are much less, and they did not know how to give us a convincing answer. They simply used threats of fines and even prison for some of us who were there that day, ”he commented to CubaNet Raydel Fernández, a young man who was also summoned for the same reason.
“My mother lives in Mantilla, a neighborhood near The Güinera (Havana), and throughout that area the power outages are not even remotely similar to what we are suffering here. They [las autoridades] they are very clear about where the points of potential danger of demonstrations are, and in those places they do not turn off the electricity so often out of fear,” added the young man.
Many of the regime’s threats to the aforementioned Internet users were associated with Decree-Law 370, which was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic on July 4, 2019 and has since been used as a weapon to silence and censor the voice of the Cubans.
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