Protests against the communist Castro regime in Cuba continued Monday amidst near-endless power blackouts worsened by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that hit Cuba’s southeastern coast on Sunday.
Cuba’s power grid — in a barely functional state after more than six decades of communist mismanagement — completely collapsed on October 18, leaving the country without electricity for several days.
While Castro regime authorities managed to restore power after repeated failed attempts, the power grid was left in a much worse state than before it collapsed, exacerbating the already inhumanely long blackouts. Hurricane Rafael’s landfall last week caused another nationwide blackout, leaving some parts of Cuba without power through the weekend.
The island-nation’s already dramatic situation worsened on Sunday after a 6.8-magnitude quake hit its southern coast 75 miles to the west of the city of Santiago de Cuba, causing damages to houses and other infrastructure. According to regime authorities, while no deaths have been reported, the earthquake left an unspecified number of injured. As of Monday, local authorities have reportedly registered 885 aftershocks following Sunday’s earthquake.
The blackouts prompted Cubans to once again flock to the streets over the weekend and peacefully protest against communism. The regime responded by warning that it would not tolerate “public disorder” and threatening to detain protesters.
The independent outlet 14 y Medio reported on Monday that at least 23 individuals have been arrested for protesting since the collapse of the nation’s power grid on October 18. According to 14 y Medio, 68 protests have been registered since October 18, 12 of which took place last week after Hurricane Rafael’s landfall.
Eight of the known arrests, the outlet explained, took place in the municipality of Encrucijada between Thursday and Friday. José Gabriel Barrenechea Chávez, a 14 y Medio contributor, was among the detainees. The outlet reported that his family has had no news of his current situation since Friday.
The Cuban Attorney General’s Office announced on Saturday that criminal proceedings have been initiated against an unspecified number of protesters in Havana, Mayabeque, and Ciego de Avila on charges of “assault, public disorder, and damages” due to alleged “acts of aggression” against regime authorities and inspectors.
“We are working on the investigation and conclusion of the criminal proceedings for their presentation to the Courts,” the statement read. “Acts of this nature are contrary to the self-sacrificing and supportive attitude of all those who, under the present circumstances, are devoted to the tasks of the country’s recovery.”
The Cuban civil organization Justicia 11J responded to the attorney general’s statement on Sunday in a press release where the group expressed its concerns over the arrests and linked the criminal proceedings against the protesters to threats issued by the communist regime’s figurehead-President Miguel Díaz-Canel in October shortly after the collapse of Cuba’s power grid. At the time, Díaz-Canel threatened to arrest individuals who protested against the communist regime.
“We are also concerned about the course of the criminal proceedings initiated, since the sentences of those arrested in previous protest scenarios since 2021, in some cases have been extended to more than 20 years of imprisonment,” the statement read. “Once again, we reject the arrests against citizens who defend in the streets their legitimate right to a dignified life, and that their welfare is a priority of the State and government bodies and their officials.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
