After more than 30 hours of blackout, protesters closed one of the main access roads to the Cuban capital.
14ymedio, Havana, October 30, 2026 / A group of women, accompanied by their children, staged a peaceful protest this Thursday on 100th Street in Havana’s Boyeros municipality, demanding the restoration of electricity and water service. The demonstration disrupted traffic on one side of this important avenue, used daily by cargo trucks and numerous cars entering and leaving the capital.
The participants in the protest came out from several nearby buildings, having endured more than 30 hours without electricity and months of unreliable water service, and marched along Vento Street until they reached 100th Street, near Perla. Once on the roadway, several children sat down, forming a line that blocked traffic, while the women stood beside them.
The images, captured in videos and photos obtained by 14ymedio, show a large group of protesters in the middle of a public street, with cars stopped or searching for alternative routes. The images show approximately twenty people, including women and children.
“We’d been without power for over 30 hours and people couldn’t take it anymore,” a resident of an apartment building who participated in the protest posted on social media. The woman says the situation has become especially difficult due to problems with the water supply and the poor sanitary conditions in the homes.
She lamented: “At home, my husband and daughter have a virus that seems to be related to the poor water quality, because several neighbors have the same symptoms. The little water we get is of terrible quality.”
The area around Perla and 100th Street is dotted with five-story apartment buildings, along with other taller structures. This high concentration of residents increases the demand for water, making every pumping interruption an additional hardship for those living on the upper floors.
The choice of location for the protest is also significant. 100th Street is one of the main access routes to Havana from the southwest and a common corridor for transporting goods.
The female protagonism in these demonstrations is also related to the weight that falls on Cuban women in domestic and caregiving tasks.
The demonstration also comes amid a week of prolonged blackouts in the capital, with some circuits having gone more than 40 hours without electricity. Havana Water Company acknowledged that the power outages on the 28th and 29th affected its main water sources, causing widespread delays in distribution.
This is not the first time mothers have led protests in Havana over basic services. In July 2025, a dozen women with their children blocked a street in Regla after nearly four months without water. In September of that same year, other mothers sat with their young children and empty containers on Monte Street . More recently, in September 2026, women and children closed a road in Arroyo Naranjo after several days without water and electricity.
The prominence of women in these demonstrations is also linked to the heavy burden of domestic and caregiving responsibilities placed on Cuban women. Obtaining water, preparing food, washing clothes, and caring for children, the sick, and the elderly becomes an exhausting task when essential services simultaneously fail. Furthermore, police repression against men who demonstrate in public tends to be more aggressive.
______________________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.