The chronic blackouts caused by the collapse of the electrical grid in communist Cuba along with food, medicine, and fuel shortages led to more protests on the island in the month of October. The Castro dictatorship responded to the discontent in the same fashion that has marked its totalitarian rule over the past 65 years: with an increase in repression.
Via ADN Cuba (my translation):
Cubalex, an independent organization dedicated to defending human rights in Cuba, published a report on the increase in repression on the island during October. In the context of a humanitarian crisis worsened by an energy collapse, the organization’s monitoring recorded 290 acts of repression and 618 harassment incidents.
The Cubalex report highlights 75 citizen protests throughout the month, a figure reflecting growing social discontent over the collapse of basic services and living conditions on the island.
These demonstrations, although mostly peaceful, faced a strong response from the authorities, including 17 arbitrary detentions related to the protests.
The protesters’ demands have focused on the lack of electricity, food, and medicine, as well as opposition to the government’s repressive policies.
However, any attempt at citizen mobilization continues to be criminalized under the Havana regime, which employs strategies of harassment, intimidation, and social control to stifle dissent.
According to Cubalex, activists, independent journalists, and ordinary citizens have also been targeted with threats and pressure. These tactics include constant surveillance, arbitrary detentions, intimidating interrogations, and movement restrictions to silence those who seek to document or denounce the crisis affecting the country.
Cubalex also documented cases of severe human rights violations in detention centers, including the deaths of inmates due to lack of medical care.
This story is one that has been repeated in the past countless times since 1959. Oppression is the only response the Castro dictatorship has to dissent. The use of repression to quash dissent and keep a population in submission is not a bug of socialism, but a feature.