Residents' Protest in Havana Leads to Power Restoration in El Fanguito

Cuban authorities promptly restored electricity in the Havana neighborhood of El Fanguito following a protest by its residents who blocked Avenue 23 on Wednesday night. The community had endured over 48 hours without power, water, or gas.

The protest, captured in a video shared by rapper and activist Eliécer Márquez Duany, known as "El Funky," depicted a MININT officer and several police officers attempting to disperse the demonstrators amid shouts and jeers, as the locals stood their ground.

The regime acted swiftly and strategically: a technician from the Electric Union climbed a pole, accessed a box at the top, adjusted its contents, and restored power to the area. Activists see this as a calculated move to quell the protest without addressing the underlying issues.

Temporary Solutions to Longstanding Issues

This incident highlights a recurring pattern in Cuba: while public protests do not solve the systemic crisis of the National Electrical System, they often prompt swift responses from the authorities, driven by fear of widespread demonstrations.

However, these solutions are typically short-lived and fail to address the root causes of the prolonged blackouts affecting the population.

During the protest, a demonstrator confronted a driver attempting to break through the blockade: "Don't cut through, we've been without power for more than 24 hours! There are children here crying! Turn around, turn around!"

Allegations of Power Diversion

El Funky also claimed in his post that electricity in El Fanguito was being diverted to supply only eight homes on the same block: "They're siphoning off power to supply eight houses on the same street, and it's worth noting that the Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, lives in one of those houses."

Portal Miranda was sanctioned by the United States on July 23 for his involvement with the Cuban medical missions system, as reported by the Treasury Department. The activist's allegations about the minister could not be independently verified by our editorial team.

Symbolic Impact of Avenue 23 Blockade

The blockade of Avenue 23 carries significant symbolic weight: it is one of Havana's main thoroughfares, and its closure compels the authorities to react in the heart of the city. The residents of El Fanguito resorted to this action after their complaints and pleas were met with silence from the state.

El Fanguito is one of Havana's most impoverished settlements, situated alongside the Almendares River in the Plaza de la Revolución municipality. Most of its homes are informal structures built with makeshift materials. According to the magazine El Estornudo, in 2016 nearly 200 of these homes were unregistered, with only one legally recognized by the state, highlighting decades of institutional neglect.

Recent Wave of Protests in Cuba

This protest is part of a growing wave of demonstrations that have intensified throughout July, marking the most extensive unrest in Havana since July 11, 2021. In July, the National Electrical System experienced three total collapses in less than eight days, with outages lasting up to 87 consecutive hours in some provinces.

This pattern of tactical concessions was also observed on July 26, when the regime kept Havana neighborhoods lit ahead of a planned nationwide cacerolazo, a move activists interpreted as an attempt to demobilize protests.

On Thursday, cacerolazos were also reported in Santiago de Cuba for the same reason, as the Electric Union had forecasted a 2,380 MW deficit, equivalent to simultaneously leaving 74% of the island without power during peak demand.