The Cuban regime has been deploying vehicles and personnel from ETECSA to areas where protests occur, aiming to disrupt mobile phone and internet signals. This tactic prevents demonstrators from recording repression or broadcasting live images. Alain Espinosa, an attorney with the Cuban human rights organization Cubalex, highlighted these actions in a recent report to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Espinosa explained that this strategy serves a dual purpose: it stops real-time dissemination of repression footage and counters the "contagion effect" that turned the July 11, 2021 protests into a widespread movement. "They deploy ETECSA personnel and vehicles to the protest sites to jam signals, ensuring no recordings or live information are shared during their crackdowns," the lawyer asserted.
Impact of July 11 Protests
In an interview with Tania Costa on CiberCuba, Espinosa emphasized that the July 11th protests gained momentum because the information spread simultaneously across the country. "The real trigger for the July 11 protests was the uniform flow of information, which led people to join in gradually and spontaneously." He noted that the regime now actively employs signal jamming as a deliberate evolution of its repressive framework. "This new tactic is designed to eliminate that possibility," he remarked.
Documented Internet Disruptions
This approach is detailed in a report Cubalex submitted to the CIDH on August 4, documenting 215 verifiable instances of militarization between February and July 24, 2026. The number of recorded events increased from ten in February to 54 in June, with the organization categorizing the period from May to July as the highest level on their scale, equating to a complete replacement of civil order with military logic.
Internet disruptions during Cuban protests have been documented multiple times in 2026. A massive internet outage occurred in Havana in May, coinciding with protests over the energy crisis, and further interruptions were reported in Centro Habana and Regla during demonstrations against power outages in June.
The Strategy of Exemplary Effect
Espinosa also discussed the regime's "exemplary effect" strategy. The government targets not prominent activists but anonymous protestors—neighborhood residents banging pots and pans—to dissuade the wider population. "The State Security, the Cuban government, as we say in Cuban slang, does not miss its target. Their goal is to achieve this highly sought-after exemplary effect," he stated.
He also issued a stark warning to the families of detained individuals who remain silent, thinking this will reduce their relatives' sentences. Tania Costa specifically referenced residents of the Bahía neighborhood in East Havana, imprisoned for banging pots and pans, whose families refuse to disclose their names publicly out of fear. "They are afraid, believing that by not naming the person, the sentence will be lighter, and they will be released. They're being deceived," he described.
Espinosa was adamant: "Of course, they are being deceived, and this is something we at Cubalex have emphasized repeatedly." He explained that State Security initially applies indirect pressure on families before resorting to direct threats, always aiming for a deterrent effect on the general population.
The backdrop to these allegations is the most severe since July 11: Cuba hit a historical high of 1,327 political prisoners by July 31, 2026, according to Prisoners Defenders, while Cubalex recorded nearly two thousand repressive actions in the year's first half.
Understanding the Cuban Regime's Repressive Tactics
Why does the Cuban regime block cell signals during protests?
The Cuban regime blocks cell signals to prevent the dissemination of live footage of their repressive actions and to avoid the spread of protest movements through real-time information sharing.
What is the "exemplary effect" strategy employed by the Cuban government?
The "exemplary effect" strategy involves targeting anonymous protestors instead of known activists to intimidate the wider population, aiming to discourage further participation in protests.
How has the repression in Cuba intensified since the July 11 protests?
Since the July 11 protests, the Cuban regime has increasingly used militarization and signal jamming as repressive tactics, with a record number of political prisoners and repressive actions reported in 2026.