Protests and Repression in Cuba: October 3, 2022.
Cubans live today in a state of defencelessness in a closed system that prohibits the existence of independent civil society and a market economy, depriving the population of THE MEANS AND autonomy to solve the humanitarian catastrophe affecting them.
Afro Cuban woman with a sign that says: “How long do people have to suffer.”
UPDATE OF PROTESTS IN CUBA
Over the weekend (Oct 1 & 2, 2022) demonstrations continued in various parts of Havana after more than 5 days without electricity in a nation wide power outage following the passage of Hurricane Ian which left five dead and 30,000 homes damaged, some completely destroyed.
43 PROTESTS IN THE PAST 5 DAYS
Of the 364 protests that the Cuban Observatory of Conflicts reports occurred in Cuba in September 2022, 43 were massive street demonstrations, especially on September 29 and 30, which "included pot-banging, road blockades and marches". In Havana there were 33, (in Vedado, Arroyo Naranjo, La Lisa Artemisa, Palatino, Guanabacoa), Artemisa was the second province with the most protests. Protests in other provinces were as follows: Las Tunas (3), Villa Clara (3), Holguin (1), Santiago de Cuba (1), Mayabeque (1) and Matanzas (1).
In some of the protests such as the one on 31st Avenue in Playa people chanted FREEDOM and force police to retreat and in others such as the one in the corner of Linea and F streets some shouted “Down with Dictatorship.”
LARGEST PROTESTS SINCE JULY 11, 2021.
September 2022 has been the most with the highest number of protests in Cuba since July 11, 2021. Overall 364 protests took place that month. On September 29 and 30, protests took place in 32 neighborhoods in Havana, including some in the Plaza de la Revolución municipality, where the centers of power are located.
Graphic showing an estimate of the total number of monthly protests in Cuba, from July 2020 to September 2022. Thus far Sept 2022 has been the month with the highest number of protests since July 11, 2021. Via Cuban Observatory of Conflicts.
A new form of resistance in Cuba: Young protesters blocking streets. The people of Cuba standing up for their rights.
Protests in Havana province on September 29 and 30. Interactive map from the Cuban Observatory of Conflicts via Inventario Project showing where street protests took place.
EVEN THOSE INTEGRATED TO THE REVOLUTION JOINED THE PROTESTS
In Nuevo Vedado where 5,000 people remained without electricity for 100 hours, even some residents in buildings in Nuevo Vedado, Havana whose residents earned ownership of their apartments due to their credentials as regime supporters also joined the pot banging protests .
POLICE CRACKDOWN
Some neighbours in different areas report police operatives larger than those on July 11. Police operations were coordinated by the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Interior Ministry. Only those in charge of the repression wore military uniform and perpetrators sent to crackdown on protests wore civilian plain clothes. One method used to track down the places where protests were taking place was for high ranking officers to check Facebook livestreams of the protests to identify the locations where the protests acquired a more confrontational character against the regime and arrest their leaders and participants.
NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARBITRARILY DETAINED
The NGO Justicia 11J has denounced 20 arrests since September 30 in Vedado, Arroyo Naranjo, La Lisa and Baracoa. Of this amount, 14 remain detained. They also reported the arbitrary detention of Cristian Hernandez Villavicencio a 12 years old child detained for 25 hours in the Directorate for the Re education of Minors from the Interior Ministry in connection with protests in Villa Clara.
“Here people have lost their fear. People have learned that if they don't protest they are not respected."
Protester in Linea street, Vedado, Habana. Via 14 y Medio.
“I have just had surgery and I have my daughter with dengue fever at home and we have nothing to eat. I don't have enough to buy food."
A 12 floor resident shouted from her apartment’s balcony. Via 14 y Medio.
“We have been without electric service for 5 days because in this neighborhood people have not come out to protest as in other neighborhoods. It's about time we woke up because all of Havana is going to have electricity except us."
A resident in Nuevo Vedado. Via 14 y Medio.
A thug beating up when in the LInea and F protests in Vedado, Havana, Cuba.
Rapid Response Brigades armed with sticks and sent in trucks to crackdown protests in Havana, Cuba.
Cristian Hernández Villavicencio is a 12 years old Cuban child, arbitrarily detained during Santa Clara protests. He was held 25hours in an investigation unit/coerced by officers of MININT’s Directorate for the Re-education of Minors. Photo via Justicia 11J
Photos of some of the people detained for exercising their right to take to the streets in peaceful protest in Cuba.
