The Ciénaga de Zapata, in Matanzas, considered one of the showcases of the Cuban regime, which always held the place as an example of its achievements, staged one of the loudest protests on Wednesday night.
“Put on the light, dick, put on the light, damn it!”, they shouted in Playa Larga to the rhythm of pot-banging in the middle of the streets, illuminated only by the flashlights of the telephones.
In the videos shared on networks, women with their children are seen participating in the demonstration, in which the cry that stood out the most was “freedom.” In several places they chanted “the people united will never be defeated”, while they banged pots with sticks and spoons.
Residents in the Altamira neighborhood, in Santiago de Cuba, also came out to protest. There, people “threw themselves into the street, people touching cauldrons and protesting against the government so that they would turn on the current,” a local resident told this newspaper. The man explained that the cacerolazos began minutes after the electricity service was cut off, and assured that State Security agents and special troops arrived at the scene.
There the people “threw into the street, the people touching cauldrons and protesting against the Government so that they put the current”
The user Echezabal JD shared on facebook several videos of demonstrators in the distribution, one of the poorest areas of Santiago de Cuba and most besieged by the Police. There is the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), whose leader, José Daniel Ferrer, in jail without trial since July 11, 2021, announced on Tuesday a new hunger strike “until the last consequences”.
On the other hand, the residents of Velasco, in the province of Holguín, came out to demonstrate “energetically against the regime,” Eduardo Cardet, a resident of that town and coordinator of the opposition Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), told Radio Martí. “The protest grew along the main avenue, congregating in the park, and then continued along the avenue to the House of Culture. Then the reverse route was made,” he said.
For Cardet, the demonstration in Velasco was “to demand the changes we need” because, he continued, “it is time for this totalitarian regime to end.”
Users on social networks reported that they also took to the streets in Colón (Matanzas).
Inventory Project reported that in San AndresHolguín, its inhabitants took to the streets and shouted “yes we can” and “freedom”.
The organization, which is collecting the places where protests have taken place in response to the long power outages, recorded seven of them on Wednesday alone.
Up to 153 demonstrations, on the other hand, register Project Inventory throughout the Island since last July 14. However, they have become more numerous, and almost daily, since Hurricane Ian hit western Cuba and, for reasons not yet fully clarified, collapsed the National Electric System.
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