Posters: “Down with the Castros”, a poster against the regime in Guanabacoa

Havana/An anti-government poster has appeared on the facade of a section of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) in Guanabacoa, Havana. Although the letters were scratched and partially covered, the phrase “Down with the Castros” can still be read, accompanied by another slogan, “Homeland and Life”, which became one of the main slogans of the popular protests of July 11, 2021.

The graffiti is located on the corner of Nazareno and Barreto Este, near the Ángel Machaco Ameijeiras polyclinic. The building, a construction with blue walls and windows protected by bars, functions as a police checkpoint and neighborhood surveillance. Precisely this official nature turns the place chosen to write the messages also into a message against the forces of order.

This Wednesday the remains of the slogans were visible on the blue façade, along with the moisture stains and chips. Under one of the windows, the words against the Castros remain visible despite attempts to erase them. Higher up, traces of other letters can also be distinguished. In an adjacent section of the building, marks left on the wall suggest that attempts were made to remove more than one inscription.

The appearance of anti-government messages in public places has been frequent in different provinces in recent months. Last Saturday, October 10, a poster with the phrase “Trump, military intervention now!” appeared on the wall of the Mayabe cemetery, in Holguín. The inscription, made with large blue letters, was signed by the Free Commandos of Holguín, a clandestine group to which other similar actions in that city are attributed.

In that same cemetery, more than twenty graffiti against the regime had prompted a major police deployment in June 2025. Officers used machetes to scrape off the inscriptions and brought a tanker truck of lime to cover them. Among the messages then were “Homeland and Life”, “Freedom for the People” and “Down with the dictatorship.”

The municipality of Guanabacoa is also no stranger to these expressions of discontent. On October 4, 2025, a wall on Corral Falso streetdecorated with drawings promoted by a local gallery, dawned with the phrase “Díaz Canel singao.” Neighbors in the area then related the atmosphere of tension to the prolonged blackouts suffered by the municipality.

Guanabacoa has also been the scene of protests over prolonged blackouts and lack of water. Last August, after accumulating more than 40 hours without electricitydozens of neighbors, mainly women with small children, gathered in front of the municipal government headquarters to demand the restoration of the service. Shouting “We want current!”, the protesters remained for hours in front of the building, while banging of pots and pans could be heard in different neighborhoods.

The tension also extended to Corral Falso street, where a group of neighbors prevented workers from the Unión Eléctrica from removing a transformer. Residents, who had been without power for more than a day, feared that the removal of the equipment would prolong the blackout even further. Although the operators explained that they needed to check it due to technical problems and several patrols went to the scene, in the end the transformer remained where it was.