Cuban Mothers Protest Outside Díaz-Canel's Havana Residence

Three Cuban mothers, accompanied by four young children, including one in a stroller, staged a protest outside the residence of leader Miguel Díaz-Canel in Havana. Their demand was clear: action against the ongoing power outages affecting their families. "They will hear me out! My name is on every list imaginable, but right now, what we need is a solution!" declared one of the women, standing resolute in front of plainclothes police and state security officers. "With all my heart! I won't move from here! They have to give me an answer!"

A video circulating on social media captures the determination of these women, who braved the scene "because of the electricity," referring to the persistent blackouts plaguing the nation. The footage shows the mothers standing firm with their children beside them, while a police patrol was already on site, poised to suppress the protest. "They are utterly unpleasant," one mother remarked with frustration, referring to the officers guarding the leader's home.

Activist Idelisa Diasniurka Salcedo Verdecia shared the videos on her social networks, sparking a wave of support and solidarity for the mothers. Many Cubans, both on the island and abroad, have highlighted this act as a powerful symbol of the widespread exasperation over the escalating energy crisis and the authorities' indifference.

This incident is not isolated. Last April, at least four mothers with their children also protested outside the leader's residence, pleading for medicine, food, and shelter. Instead, they reported receiving heightened surveillance, threats, and a meager meal of white rice, a croquette, and cabbage.

Estanys Rodríguez, a 20-year-old mother of a two-year-old girl, walked 45 minutes from Marianao to Díaz-Canel's home, her child in tow. Driven by a single conviction, she said, "I can no longer stand the hardships here, especially as a Cuban mother with my child." That day, the only breakfast she could provide her daughter was a soda.

Rodríguez, like many other Cuban mothers, has faced threats for voicing her grievances online. "It was all threats, that if I did it again, they would prosecute me, and I told them they could because it's my daughter who suffers now," she stated in an interview with the channel Universo Increíble.

"Children in Cuba do not live as they should. We're in inhumane conditions, and it's unjust," one of the mothers lamented in April after their unsuccessful attempt to elicit a governmental response.