The misery and oppression suffered by the Cuban people on a daily basis came to a boil on Saturday in Guantanamo as hundreds of people took the streets in protest. The residents of the town of Caimanera, who could no longer take the food and gas shortages along with chronic blackouts, lashed out at the oppressive communist dictatorship with shouts of “Freedom!”
Via CiberCuba (my translation):
A massive protest took place at sunset this Saturday in the town of Caimanera, Guantánamo, as dozens of people took to the streets shouting “Freedom!”
Videos making the rounds on social media show how residents of the town, which borders the Guantanamo Naval Base, marched in protest through the streets due to shortages and power outages.
In one of the videos, where an improvised podium can be seen, a resident of Caimanera, who at that moment declared himself dissident, rallied those around him and called on them to stop accepting the misery.
Meanwhile, as videos of the protests began to go viral, Venceremos, the local newspaper in Guantanamo, reported a power outage affecting the entire province, the causes of which were unknown.
Once videos and images of the protest began to make it onto social media, the Castro dictatorship began blocking internet access on the island. The blockages were confirmed by NetBlocks, a British organization that monitors internet access and actions by governments to block and restrict that access. On Twitter, NetBlocks posted graphs on how internet traffic in Cuba first collapsed, and then crashed down to zero.
?? Update: Metrics show a nation-scale disruption to internet traffic in #Cuba during protests calling for freedom; core incident duration ~1.5 hours followed by restoration of service ???? #SOSCuba pic.twitter.com/T9KuspQqOY
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) May 7, 2023
As the videos began to circulate on social media, Amnesty International spoke out and called on the Castro dictatorship to respect the rights of Cubans to protest peacefully (via Alaska Commons):
Amnesty International has called on the Cuban government to respect citizens’ right to protest after a large group of people took to the streets in Caimanera, a town 1,000 kilometers from Havana. Videos on social media showed people shouting “Freedom, Freedom,” while others recorded the protest on their phones. Communication was made difficult on the island due to internet failures, but accounts generally located abroad tweeted and reproduced the videos. Amnesty International Americas remains on “extreme alert” following the protest and has urged the authorities to “respect and guarantee the right to protest…without repression.”
Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, the Cuban dictatorship responded with its usual brutality, deploying the military to the town to quash the protests (via Diario de Cuba — my translation):
Amidst the protest, violent acts by security forces were reported, and Cubans reported the loss of mobile data and other telephone services.
In a Facebook post in which he downplayed the scale of the protest, [journalist] Miguel Reyes Mendoza said that “official sources and authorities in the town of Caimanera” reported that “three people who were drinking alcohol began to protest against the Cuban government in the town” and “were later joined by others who also expressed their dissatisfaction and the systematic unmet needs of the population and others that require attention.”
According to the note, “a patrol car was sent, which, in trying to calm the situation, encountered resistance from the protesters, preventing the police from acting.”
However, the videos show very violent actions by military personnel against the gathered people, including women. It is unknown how many were detained. Shouts of “Long live free Cuba!”, “Patria y Vida,” and “Long live human rights!” were also heard.
[…]
Social media followers of the journalist criticized the lack of clarity in the information provided and the far away it was from the reality.
“For God’s sake Migue, you are a credible journalist, don’t let all the effort you’ve made to have and do your job well (end), don’t let reality be hidden. It wasn’t three people, it was a whole town. There are videos, that’s why there was no internet,” said one commenter.
“Oh my God! I follow you and believe you. But I saw all the videos. I really saw those who looked drunk and and it didn’t look good. I also heard the shouts very well,” referring to the cries of “Freedom!” said another commenter.
“The ‘Black Berets’ have arrived. The people raised their hands as a sign of nonviolence. The military beat them to death. Impotence, pain, anger… I’m feeling many things right now!” denounced activist Magdiel Jorge Castro, who shared images of the repression on his social media.
Once again, we have massive protests in Cuba being met with violence by the Castro dictatorship. The international community will likely look the other way, as they have done so many times in the past. It is up to the Cuban people themselves to break the chains of tyranny that have enslaved them for more than six decades.
People are sick and tired of miserable lives with no future and no improvement in sight. Gracias, Fidel.