Protests rattle ‘cradle’ of Cuban revolution
A crowd swarms the steps of a small state-run market on the outskirts of Santiago, Cuba’s second-largest city, sweating and shouting, jostling for a chance at a once-monthly ration of chicken.
A pound bag of thighs is going for a bargain 20 pesos — about 5c at the black-market exchange rate — but furore devolves to chaos as word spreads there may not be enough for everyone. And that’s when the lights go out.
“This is life here,” said Mauri Macias, a chef with two children who spoke as he waited his turn to buy a handful of the government-subsidised poultry. “You live without being able to make plans.”
The episode last Wednesday in Santiago — the site earlier in March of a rare public protest — provides a telling snapshot of the challenge facing Cuba’s government: when the power fails, tensions — even in areas sympathetic to Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution — begin to soar.
Residents and local officials in the Santiago de Cuba neighbourhoods of Veguita del Galo, Jose Marti, Micro 9 and Abel Santamaria told of their frustration at food shortages and electricity outages that sometimes top 10 hours daily.
“Living without electricity is primitive,” said Yoni Mena, who runs a vegetable stand in Abel Santamaria. “The mosquitoes, the heat, sometimes there is no water. People are losing their minds. And that leads to other problems, like violence.”
Several hundred protesters gathered on March 17 in Santiago’s Carretera del Morro Park, chanting “power and food”, according to local residents. Social media videos showed a smaller group shouting “freedom” as local Communist Party leader Beatriz Johnson prepared to speak with the crowd.
Both the government and observers characterised the protests as largely peaceful. The Cuban government, once reticent to acknowledge protests, now calls for dialogue and has moved quickly to attend to grievances in areas where they have flared.
In Santiago de Cuba, officials and residents said the government had begun to distribute subsidised rations, including chicken, rice, sugar and milk. Power supply also became much more regular in the week after the protests, residents said.
“We are aware that lack of electricity provides the spark for any protest,” energy & mining minister Vicente de la O’Levy said.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited Santiago last week. He blamed the US and the “capitalist media” for stoking protests, and said his government was willing to have dialogue with upset citizens.
Santiago, a Caribbean outpost 870km southeast of the capital Havana, dubs itself the “cradle” of the Cuban revolution. Its former Moncada military barracks were the site of the revolution’s first battle in 1953. Castro himself once lived in a wooden home overlooking the bay. He is buried here, his tombstone marked simply “Fidel”.
The city, like Cuba, has fallen on hard times since the Covid-19 pandemic. Tourism, once a source of foreign currency, has sputtered, with potential visitors put off by a lack of infrastructure, US visa rules and news coverage of economic woes and unrest.