Protesters in central Cuba attacked early Saturday an office of the ruling Communist Party, amid growing discontent over hourslong blackouts fueled by a US oil blockade.
Angry protesters vandalized the Communist Party office in the city of Moron, some 460 kilometers (roughly 285 miles) east of the capital, Havana, as a peaceful rally against power cuts and food shortages turned violent.
What do we know about the Moron protest?
Protesters took to the streets shouting “liberty” and banging pots, a form of protest Cubans have recently taken up to air their grievances.
Videos on social media showed people throwing rocks as well as ransacking the Communist Party office, removing documents, computers and furniture and burning it in the street.
“What began peacefully, after an exchange with the authorities in the area, degenerated into vandalism against the headquarters of [the] municipal committee of the Communist Party,” the state Invasor newspaper reported.
A Moron resident who spoke to the French AFP news agency on condition of anonymity said hotels in the town, a main source of revenue and prime employer owing to tourism, have been shuttered amid the energy crisis, adding that this has exacerbated residents’ economic woes.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel acknowledged people’s discontent over the prolonged blackouts.
“What will never be comprehensible, justified or admitted is violence,” he said in a post on X.
Police detained five people in the protests, state media reported.
Why is Cuba suffering from long blackouts?
Cuba’s economy, already suffering under six decades of a US trade embargo, has been significantly battered since US President Donald Trump’s administration captured and unseated Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Cuba’s most important foreign benefactor, in January.
Since then, Venezuelan oil has stopped flowing into Cuba, with Trump openly expressing hopes for regime change and saying Havana was on the verge of collapse.
On Friday, Cuba’s government confirmed it was conducting talks with Washington to diffuse the situation, but did not provide details on the nature of the talks.
Trump’s oil blockade has translated into fuel, food and medicine shortages, pushing residents to protest against blackouts that could last for the majority of the day.
Protests are rare in the communist country, with some of the protesters who took part in the 2021 rallies over economic hardship and repression sentenced to 20 years or more in prison.
Edited by: Sean Sinico
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