Cuban power outages for several days, people's dissatisfaction sparked protests.

(Reuters)

[Instant News/Comprehensive Report] Hurricane Ian ravaged the Americas, and disasters were reported from all over the country. Cuba was also affected, and 11 million people across the country suffered power outages.

Hundreds of people protested in Praia, a seaside municipality in western Cuba, on Friday (30th) due to a long absence of electricity. Protesters chanted "turn on the lights" and slandered President Miguel Diaz Canel. Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel).

According to Reuters, Hurricane Ian hit Cuba on Tuesday (27th), causing a major power outage in the local area, but the power was not restored for a long time, triggering popular protests, protesters chanted "libertad" (freedom) in Spanish. mean).

Please read on...

Small protests broke out again in scattered locations across Havana and outside the city on Saturday afternoon, according to social media reports.

Power has been restored to most residents and there were no demonstrations on Friday or Saturday.

"It's a good thing that electricity is coming back little by little," said Jorge Mario Gonzalez, a 57-year-old postal worker in Havana, whose home was restored on Friday. "The government has put in a lot of effort, but it can't satisfy everyone. We have a lot of problems."

Power has been restored to 82% of Havana's city of more than 2 million people, the government said, but those still in the dark are also increasingly anxious.

Carlos Felipe Garcia, who was shirtless and sweaty at Friday's protests, said, "It's like hell". "That's why we're on the street and we'll keep coming out."

The government said on Friday that it hoped to have the lights back on in most of Havana by the end of the weekend.

Protests sparked by the power outage have hampered recovery efforts, city officials said, warning against blocking roads and vandalism.

As demonstrations intensified in Praia late on Friday, security forces blocked the main boulevard to prevent demonstrators from advancing, according to a Reuters witness.

"But our children's food has rotted, and they have nothing to eat," said Andres Mora, a local resident. The prolonged power outage in Cuba has been disturbing for many residents, who have access to daily necessities, including Food, fuel and medicine, usually waiting in line for hours in the hot Caribbean sun.

Street protests are rare in communist-ruled Cuba.

Anti-government rallies rocked the island on July 11, 2021, the largest demonstrations since Castro's 1959 revolution.

The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday that the Cuban government had made a rare request for emergency aid from the United States.