Cuba | “We want light!”: Hundreds protest blackout and government internet shutdown for second day

At the same time A preventing Almost all Internet traffic from CubaFor the second night in a row, several special sites were alerted.

Chanting “we want light,” hundreds of Cubans protested in various neighborhoods of Havana on Thursday, days after the entire island was left without electricity after Hurricane Ian.

Demonstrators took to the streets spontaneously in at least five parts of the city, the Associated Press reported.

Those that do exist, many of them in low-income neighborhoods of the capital They shouted “Freedom”. And as several videos widely shared on social media showed, they hit saucepans with spoons.

As the protests escalated on Thursday, there was A cut widely Mobile Internet Service This was confirmed by network victims and global traffic monitoring sites.

Activists accused the government of suspending connectivity to prevent people from accessing information about the protests and deciding to join them.

In previous protests, during the historic demonstrations on July 11, 2021, authorities shut down internet services for hours and even days.

Sorting and patrolling in videos shared by users of social networks vPolice and military vehicles In the streets immediately after spontaneous demonstrations broke out.

Other images show verbal clashes between neighbors and officials who went to the neighborhood to report on the power supply situation.

The entire island lost power. For several hours on Tuesday, something that has never happened before.

The government is responsible for the total blackout For Hurricane IanIt crossed the western part of the country, bringing heavy rain and winds of up to 200 km/h, causing two deaths and severe property damage.

In the following days, some power plants distributed across the island started working again, and supply was gradually restored in some areas.

However, most of the 11.1 million Cubans still have no electricity or only a few hours a day, according to the EFE agency.

The Cuban Presidency reported this Friday that service has already been restored to 60% of homes in Havana.

Cuba’s power system faces two fundamental problems: fuel shortages and frequent outages.

Most of Cuba’s power plants run on oil, which is scarce in the country.

On the other hand, it is difficult to withdraw due to deterioration of power plants Lack of resources Repair defects and buy new parts.

Blackouts are another hardship faced by Cubans during the severe economic crisis in the country.

Another of them is scarcity, as Cuba has shortages of all kinds of goods, from food to cleaning supplies, clothing, furniture, appliances, and fuel.

Additionally, the government controls the limited supply available Most of the goods are sold in dollarsA currency beyond the reach of a section of the population.

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