Protests In Cuba: Demonstrators Smash Communist Party Office
- 15.03.2026, 9:56
People's dissatisfaction with the regime is growing.
On Saturday night, a group of Cubans unhappy with power cuts and fuel shortages attacked a Communist Party office in the city of Moron in central Cuba, BBC reported.
Before that, a protest was held in the city over rising food prices and the energy crisis.
The Cuban Interior Ministry said five people had been arrested.
The state-run newspaper Invasor reported that the demonstration "started peacefully" but then turned into "acts of vandalism." "A small group of people started throwing stones at the building and then set fire to the street furniture that was in the lobby," it said.
The publication said several other government offices, including a pharmacy and a store, were also attacked.
Videos have surfaced on social media showing people throwing stones at the windows of the Communist Party office and shouting "Freedom!" At the same time, a large bonfire is blazing in the center of the street.
The Cuban Interior Ministry says law enforcement agencies have launched an investigation into "acts of vandalism."
In recent months, Cuba has been experiencing an acute energy and food crisis, with frequent power outages on the island and rising prices for medicine and food. Essential services such as hospitals, public transportation, educational institutions and garbage collection, among others, are suffering.
In Cuba's capital, blackouts sometimes last up to 15 hours a day.
This is due to US policy, under pressure from Cuba-friendly Venezuela, which stopped supplying oil to the island after the January American takeover of its leader Nicolas Maduro.
Donald Trump has threatened Cuba, saying it is next after Venezuela and Iran on his list of countries in need of a leadership change.
The US imposed a trade embargo against Cuba as far back as 66 years ago, when Cuban rebels led by Fidel Castro who came to power expropriated the property of US companies.
Discontent is growing
Public expressions of discontent are rare in Cuba, although its constitution guarantees the right to free speech.
In recent weeks, some Cubans have begun banging pots in the streets of cities or in their homes in the evenings to protest what is happening. Most such actions are taking place in Havana.
Last week, a group of students held a protest at the University of Havana, expressing their displeasure that the energy crisis is interfering with their education.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel called people's complaints "legitimate" but said he would not tolerate "violence and vandalism that threaten tranquility."
He wrote on the X network that the constant power outages understandably make people tired, but cited the U.S. blockade as the cause. He said Washington had "brutally intensified it in recent months."
On Thursday, Havana said it would release 51 prisoners as a goodwill gesture following talks with the Vatican. The Vatican has mediated Cuba-U.S. talks in the past.
A few hours before the prisoner release announcement, Miguel Diaz-Canel confirmed that Havana was in talks with the U.S. but said little about their content.