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Protests erupt in Cuba’s Santiago over power outages, food shortages

  • A group of protesters demonstrated in Santiago on Sunday, criticizing Cuba’s prolonged power outages and food shortages.
  • A video showing protesters outside Santiago, about 800 miles from Havana, went viral on social media.
  • State media confirmed the protests in Santiago and reported similar protests in other Cuban provinces, as confirmed by the US embassy in Havana.

A small group of protesters took to the streets in the eastern city of Santiago on Sunday, denouncing up to eight-hour power outages and food shortages across Cuba.

Videos on social media show protesters on the outskirts of the city, about 800 miles from Havana.

State media confirmed protests in Santiago, but the US embassy in Havana said there were reports of protests in a number of other provinces on the island. Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel also addressed the protests in a statement. Social media It was posted, but the location of the incident was not specified.

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Government-run news agency El Necio reported on the events in Santiago, saying, “Due to long power outages due to fuel shortages and other situations caused by the current economic crisis, several people took to the streets to protest.” I went,” he said.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel walks through the COP28 United Nations Climate Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 2, 2023. A group of protesters took to the streets in the eastern city of Santiago on Sunday to criticize power outages that lasted up to eight hours and food shortages across Cuba. (AP Photo/Peter DeJong, File)

Cuba is facing the worst economic and energy crisis in its history. The wave of power outages has worsened in recent weeks, with growing frustration over food shortages and inflation, making it increasingly difficult to make ends meet on the communist-run island. Hundreds of thousands of people emigrated, many heading to the United States.

Videos of people chanting “electricity and food” were quickly shared by Cubans on and off the island on platforms such as X and Facebook.

A person who spoke to The Associated Press from Santiago by phone on condition that his name not be used said internet service in the area was cut off after the demonstration. Several users of social network X also reported internet outages in Santiago.

In recent years, the internet has become an important tool in Cuba for transmitting and distributing news of protests against the government, but it has also been used to spread misinformation about the alleged protests.

It was most prominently used during mass protests in 2021, which saw the arrest of some demonstrators and large-scale internet outages. These protests were also caused by power and food shortages.

In the evening, Cuba’s president accused anti-government “terrorists” in the United States of instigating the protests, saying they were “encouraging actions contrary to the internal order of the country.”

“Several people have expressed dissatisfaction with the situation with electricity supply and food distribution. This situation is being exploited by the enemies of the revolution to destabilize the government,” Díaz-Canel wrote to X.

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In a post on its Facebook page, the U.S. Embassy called on the Cuban government to respect the protests.

“We are aware of reports of peaceful protests taking place in Santiago, Bayamo, Granma and other locations in Cuba,” he said. “We call on the Cuban government to respect the human rights of protesters and respond to the legitimate needs of the Cuban people.”

Earlier in the day, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, secretary of the Cuban Communist Party in Santiago, appeared at a protest in the city and “talked to the people and listened to their grievances,” El Necio said. Police were also at the scene, but there were no arrests or reports of violence.

In recent days, images and videos purporting to be from protests in Cuba have been circulating on social media. Some were images of old protests or from other countries, and The Associated Press could not independently verify the authenticity of other images.

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