Madrid/Five years after the massive protests of July 11, 2021, the Cuban State has responded with repressive actions and a reinforcement of surveillance and militarization. The Editorial of 14ymedio woke up this Saturday besieged by a police patrol that prevented its director Yoani Sánchez from leaving her home.
Surveillance has also been extended to other independent journalists, opponents and relatives of political prisoners. This Saturday the journalist reported police operations Camila Acostathe opposition leader Manuel Cuesta Morúa and the intellectual Roberto Veiga. The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights also reported another operation in front of the home of Wilber Aguilar, father of political prisoner Walnier Luis Aguilar. Although State Security repeats these control measures every year on this date, they now coincide with the worsening of the economic and political crisis that the Island is going through and the growing citizen unrest.
The 2021 protests broke out due to the deterioration of living conditions during the pandemic, but from the first moment they expressed political demands with slogans such as “Homeland and Life” and “Freedom.” The repression was brutal: at least one died from a gunshot during the demonstrations; more than 1,300 people detained or prosecuted for those events, according to various independent organizations, and seven political prisoners died in custody, according to the NGO Cuba Archive.
Against this backdrop, the regime has tightened surveillance and control measures in the face of the possibility of a new social outbreak.
Five years later, the deterioration of living conditions is even more profound. The energy crisis has reached a point where we no longer speak of blackouts, but of “lightnings”: brief intervals of electrical service between more than 30 hours without electricity in Havana and up to 90 hours in some provincial areas. Added to this is a water supply crisis that, as recognized the authorities themselvesaffects more than 500,000 Havana residents. Against this backdrop, the regime has tightened surveillance and control measures in the face of the possibility of a new social outbreak.
This Friday, the Government intensified its security preparations for the anniversary. President Miguel Díaz-Canel led a meeting with commanders soldiers in the Havana municipality of Cerro, as part of the events for National Defense Day. During the meeting, according to Granmameasures were reviewed to preserve “internal order” in communities and protect strategic economic objectives.
This newspaper was able to verify that since Friday night patrols and “cage cars” were already circulating through the streets of Havana, vehicles used to detain and transport the so-called “agitators of order.” During the protests of July 11, 2021, the police even used garbage trucks for this purpose.
Cubalex documented a record of 319 repressive events and an all-time high of 253 protests during June, the highest number since this monitoring began in 2022
This climate of tension was also reflected in the latest monthly report from Cubalex. The independent organization documented a record of 319 repressive events and a historical maximum of 253 protests during June, the highest number since this monitoring began in 2022. The report notes that “the days with the most events of arbitrary detentions generally coincided with special operations and the peaks of protests in the month.” At least 254 people were victims of the repression. Almost half were not activists or known opponents, but citizens who participated in demonstrations motivated by blackouts and deteriorating living conditions.
Havana concentrated 176 of these protests, followed by Santiago de Cuba, with 35, and Villa Clara, with 17. The cacerolazos, increasingly frequent also during the day, continued to be the main form of protest. The organization also documented the burning of garbage and tires, street closures, stones thrown at police stations and bank branches, as well as graffiti against the Government and against Raúl Castro.
Cubalex also warns about the “deployment of undercover agents in Havana neighborhoods with the aim of identifying those who protested in previous days.”
Among the most frequent violations are police deployments of surveillance and control, arbitrary detentions, forced transfers, threats and the denial of medical care to people deprived of liberty. The report also indicates an increase in harassment operations against independent journalists. Among the documented cases are the permanent surveillance against the aforementioned Yoani Sánchez and Camila Acosta.
Cubalex also warns about the “deployment of undercover agents in neighborhoods of Havana with the aim of identifying those who protested in previous days.”
In the organization’s opinion, “the deterioration of material living conditions and the increase in social discontent coincided with a state response aimed at control, ‘state of war’ propaganda and the containment of protest.”
The national electrical system suffered this Friday a new total disconnection, the second in the week, and more than 24 hours later the authorities had still not managed to completely restore the service. The new fall suggests another day of long blackouts in much of the country for this conflictive date.
Despite police operations to maintain control, protests were again recorded in different provinces on Friday night. Videos spread on social networks show dozens of neighbors in Mariel, Artemisa, burning piles of garbage while chanting “Freedom.” In San Miguel del Padrón, in Havana, residents blocked the Vía Blanca to protest the prolonged power outages.
This Friday, the Cuban sociologist Ramón García Guerra warned also about the tension in his neighborhood of Santa Fe. “After three days of protests against the Government’s apathy, in my neighborhood there was an escalation in the conflict and today it is expected to be a more violent confrontation between the police and the protesters,” he wrote on his social networks.
