Street protests are rare in most communist states because they are especially risky. In Cuba as in China, protests against the government can quickly result in a visit from police, an arrest and likely a stint in a very unpleasant prison. So it's noteworthy when people accept that risk and protest anyway.
For weeks, Cubans have been going out at night to bang pots and pans in protest of the blackouts and the regime's inability to do anything about it.
Cuba 🇨🇺 BREAKING: nighttime protests have erupted in the capital Havana.
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) March 7, 2026
After more then 60 hours without any electricity people have had enough. Protests against thr communist regime are now being reported in several neighborhoods across the capital. pic.twitter.com/VKFQLNoFkE
That has usually been the extent of it. People in complete darkness making some noise. But yesterday resident of one city escalated by attacking the local communist party headquarters and setting it on fire.
“Libertad, libertad,” shouted hundreds of demonstrators as they faced off against police outside the precinct in Morón, a city of about 70,000 near Cuba’s northeastern coast. Protesters then marched to the offices of the ruling Communist Party, according to the Cuban government and videos posted on social media.
Residents threw rocks at the building and tried to set it ablaze. Others climbed on the building’s second story and threw papers and furniture into the street, which they then set on fire. At the time of the protest, Morón hadn’t had any electricity for 30 hours...
Alberto Echemendía, the head of the Communist Party in Morón, held a rally of “revolutionary reaffirmation” in front of the ransacked party headquarters. “We live in complicated times,” he told El Invasor, a regional official newspaper, blaming U.S. economic sanctions for the riots.
The NY Times has more based on videos of the incident.
Videos circulating on social media showed the group approaching the building with flaming objects and throwing them inside. “Burn it all down!” one man said...
In one of the videos, what sounds like a gunshot can be heard. “They got him,” a man said as the camera shows a person limping and then collapsing before people gather around, calling for help. It is not clear from the video if the man was actually shot.
The unrest in Morón is the most significant in years, experts say. It came only hours after President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged in a televised address that members of the Cuban government had been engaging in talks with the Trump administration, which has effectively cut off oil shipments to the island for the past three months.
Here's one of the videos that has been circulating.
🚨 BREAKING: Massive protests have erupted in Cuba as fuel shortages and rolling blackouts push the country deeper into crisis.
— And We Know©🇺🇸 (@andweknow) March 15, 2026
In Morón, protesters stormed a Communist Party office, dragged furniture into the street, and set it on fire while shouting for freedom. pic.twitter.com/ffl5LpQw8D
And one more:
Esto es emocionante. Se está comenzando a respirar libertad en Cuba.
— Agustín Antonetti (@agusantonetti) March 14, 2026
Octava noche consecutiva de protestas, pero está ya comienza a ser masiva. Todo el pueblo de Ciego de Avila está en las calles.
El pueblo unido contra la dictadura. Que todo el mundo vea estas imágenes. pic.twitter.com/1vrQhb05ap
Government officials spent Saturday reaffirming their commitment to the revolution:
On Saturday, Morón government officials and local party leaders held what a state-owned newspaper called a “revolutionary reaffirmation ceremony” to criticize the protest and express support for the state.
José Raúl Gallego, a researcher for the Cuban exile human rights group Cubalex, said that what happened in Morón showed how dissent may be becoming more confrontational. “For the first time,” he said, “people are going to the heart of political power and attacking it head-on.”
Even as the people of Cuba are increasingly willing to protest the government, there is a pro-communist backlash among leftists in the western world. Here's Greta Thunberg offering a defense of Cuba and lashing out at "the pedophile Trump." She's calling for protesters to show up at US embassies worldwide this coming weekend to show support for communist Cuba.
Greta is complaining that Trump won’t allow the Cuban communist dictatorship to import fossil fuels to power their dictatorship
— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@DrewPavlou) March 14, 2026
What’s the matter Greta, I thought you wanted the planet to go Green! pic.twitter.com/OJanbg2uJa
It's not really a surprise that Greta is pro-communism and pro-Iranian theocracy at this point. Like a lot of leftists, she's fine with dictatorship so long as the dictators oppose the United States.
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