Protests: Bonfires, banging pots and shouts of “We want light!” in a new protest

Havana/Havana was the scene this Friday of new protests against blackouts and the deterioration of basic services. Dozens of residents of Calabazar, in Boyeros, took to the streets at night, lit bonfires, banged pots and chanted “We want light!”, after days of suffering long electricity and water cuts.

A local resident who was present at the protest tells this newspaper: “Yes, last night they closed the bridge, they set fire to the garbage and there were banging of pots and pans.” The neighbor assures that, after the demonstration, “they turned on the electricity immediately,” and adds: “For many days they only turned on one or two hours in the morning, imagine.”

The same source assures that the residents’ discontent is also due to the fact that they feel that “they are being punished with blackouts”, since in nearby neighborhoods of the same municipality “they always have electricity”, while they remain in the dark. The neighbor reports that the protest took place in that precise location because it is close to a Police command post in Calabazar: “The agents seen in the videos belong to that command post. That is why the neighbors always protest there.”

The witness adds that in this demonstration “it was the youngest who took center stage” and assures that there were many children and adolescents, as the images confirm.

In broadcast videos On social media, dozens of people can be seen next to several bonfires lit on the asphalt, in a dark street, while they bang pots and pans and chant: “We want light!” Another recording shows the arrival of police patrols and agents dressed in olive green who try to put out the fire. “How quickly they call them!”, a protester can be heard saying behind the camera, while the other neighbors continue playing pots and calling in chorus for the restoration of the service.

The comments to the images posted describe the distressing situation of the residents of Calabazar: several residents stated that they had been without power or drinking water for days, with “lightning” at dawn that did not allow them to recharge their batteries. Others confirmed that the electrical service was restored after the demonstration, and added: “Only that way they can turn on the light.”

Reports of the protest also circulated in the Las Cañas neighborhood, in the same municipality. The page La Tijera Newsbased on testimonies from residents and videos of the protest, claims that the protesters set fire to the bridge that connects that community with Calabazar, as a protest for the blackouts. In the video, the neighbor’s voice can be heard confirming: “They turned on the light now.”

For his part, the opponent José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu) and exiled in Miami since October 2025, posted one of the videos of the protest. In the voice in offFerrer celebrates the specific protests, but calls for greater organization throughout the country to “put an end to the blackouts, hunger, misery and repression throughout Cuba” and end “that tyranny”, which he blames for the entire crisis on the Island.

“With isolated protests progress is made but no success is achieved. Greater organization and coordination is needed throughout Cuba and in Exile,” Ferrer wrote.

It is not the first neighborhood demonstration of Calabazar due to blackouts. Last July, residents detained two linemen from the Unión Eléctrica (UNE) whom they accused of selling electricity illegally; both were arrested. The company acknowledged the next day that two of its workers were involved. Other residents then gathered in front of the municipal government headquarters to demand a solution to the cuts.

In the midst of the energy crisis that the Island is going through, the protest occurs in a especially hard week for the national electrical system (SEN). On Friday, the entire province of Granma was disconnected from the system for several hours due to a failure in the 110 kilovolt line that links it to Santiago de Cuba. On Wednesday, the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant was disconnected due to a breakdown, and the Felton thermoelectric plant was disconnected for maintenance. Two days later, the Ernesto Guevara plant in Mayabeque shut down due to an oil leak in a turbine.

With eight units out of service in five thermoelectric plants –Santa Cruz, Antonio Guiteras, Felton, Renté and Nuevitas–, four due to breakdowns and four in maintenance, the maximum impact due to a deficit in generation capacity was 1,912 megawatts (MW) yesterday, with a national demand of 2,800 MW, according to the UNE report. For today, the state company foresees an impact of 1,860 MW during peak hours.