Cuba: Funding for Propaganda Sparks Pot-Banging Protest in Havana

Havana Residents Resort to Pot-Banging Protests as Power Crisis Deepens

Residents of Nuevo Vedado in Havana took to their balconies Thursday night, banging pots and pans in protest just blocks away from Communist Party headquarters, as the Cuban capital endured another extended power outage. The demonstration came on the same day President Miguel Diaz-Canel opened the fifth edition of the Patria Colloquium, an international gathering of pro-regime supporters that critics say never lacks resources despite the country’s dire economic situation.

Video footage shared on social media by activist Magdiel Jorge Castro captured the protest, showing darkened apartment buildings with only occasional lights from mobile phones or the homes of residents fortunate enough to have generators or solar panels. “I hope Díaz-Canel listens carefully to the sound of tonight’s protest,” Castro wrote when sharing the video.

According to the state-run Unión Eléctrica (UNE), more than half of Cuba was simultaneously without power during Thursday’s peak hours. Social media comments revealed the severity of the crisis, with residents reporting extended blackouts lasting up to 30 consecutive hours, while others described receiving as little as two or three hours of electricity per day.

The contrast between the power crisis and the regime’s ability to stage political events was not lost on citizens. One commenter questioned whether there had been any “power deficit” for what they called “today’s circus” at a political rally in Vedado, where Diaz-Canel himself acknowledged that Cuba “absolutely lacks fuel for almost everything.”

The energy crisis is just one manifestation of Cuba’s broader economic struggles, which have led to increasing public expressions of discontent despite the risks involved.

In a separate but related development highlighting the government’s response to public protest, opposition activist Alexeis Serrano Aguila and his wife, Delis Frometa Suarez, have been detained since April 13 in Palma Soriano. The couple now faces potential three-year prison sentences on charges of contempt after peacefully protesting a fine, according to legal advisory group Cubalex.

Video footage of the April 11 incident shows Serrano Aguila angrily but non-violently protesting a 16,000-peso fine (approximately eight times the minimum monthly wage of 2,100 pesos, equivalent to $4 USD) for selling produce from a handcart on the street.

In the recording, Serrano Aguila accuses authorities of “living off abuse of power in Cuba, against the honest, honorable, hardworking people.” He argues that his small-scale produce selling is not a “business,” adding that “business is what the Government has, selling the people’s food, food that is sent to them for free.” His wife can be heard in the background demanding that authorities “let people live” and stating that “there is hunger” in Cuba.

Two days after the incident, when Serrano Aguila responded to a summons at the Palma Soriano police station, he was immediately detained. His wife was also arrested when she arrived to inquire about him. The couple’s detention has left their two young daughters in what exiled journalist Jose Raul Gallego describes as “an extreme situation of vulnerability,” as they now must care for their grandmother with minimal resources.

Serrano Aguila began a hunger strike immediately upon his detention, and according to Gallego, his health has already deteriorated. Neither he nor his wife, who suffers from diabetes, have reportedly received medical attention during their detention.

The dual crises of energy shortages and repression of economic activity illustrate Cuba’s mounting challenges. As blackouts continue to plague daily life across the island, citizens face difficult choices between silent endurance and the risks that come with public displays of discontent in a system where even a protest against a fine can potentially result in years of imprisonment.