Dozens of residents of the Santiago neighborhood took to the streets banging their pots and pans and shouting “Freedom!”
14ymedio, Havana, October 17, 2025 – In Baire, a small town in the municipality of Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba, dozens of residents took to the streets this Thursday to protest the prolonged blackouts, food shortages, and lack of drinking water that have affected the population for weeks. Although the crisis is affecting the entire island, its effects are often worse in the eastern part of the country.
Around 7:40 p.m., residents began banging on pots and pans and shouting slogans such as “We are not afraid!” and “Freedom!” according to reports from journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada. The neighborhoods of La Salada, El Transformador, and Abisinia were the epicenter of the spontaneous mobilization, which quickly spread to other streets in the town.
Several residents documented the demonstration with their cell phones. The videos shared show people walking in groups, banging pots and pans, and shouting out anti-government messages like “Down with Díaz-Canel!”
The protest took place amid a power outage that had lasted more than 24 hours, with no drinking water, and an arbovirus outbreak worsening the local health crisis. “More than 30 hours without electricity or drinking water, several infected with the arbovirus,” said activist Yamilka Lafita, known online as Lara Crofs, who highlighted the exhaustion and frustration that motivated the march.
Authorities responded by cutting off internet access throughout the municipality.
During the first few minutes, the authorities responded with a familiar tactic, cutting off internet access throughout the municipality. This has become a common method to prevent images and videos of the protests from spreading and spurring repercussions in other areas. Connections were restored approximately 30 minutes later, allowing several residents to share evidence of their discontent. Following this, pro-regime social media profiles often displayed images of the protest sites, but now in a seemingly calm state, giving the impression that “nothing has happened” or that everything is “under control.”
The protesters avoided the main road to avoid police checkpoints and marched through inner streets, passing through Avenida 8 and Avenida Central (Avenida 4), until they reached Baire Central Park. There, they gathered in front of the police station and next to the residence of Salvador, president of the People’s Council, where they chanted slogans of freedom and justice.
Contramaestre woke up this Friday to police patrols and Interior Ministry vehicles surrounding the main streets and parks. The number of detainees is unknown, but local activists fear a new wave of arrests in the coming days, as has occurred during previous protests.
The town of Baire occupies an emblematic place in national history for being the scene of the Grito de Baire
Since the historic Island-wide demonstrations of 11 July 2021, popular unrest has been evident in various provinces across the country, fueled by prolonged blackouts, food shortages, and deteriorating basic services. However, the regime’s response continues to be repression and the criminalization of those demanding improvements.
The town of Baire holds an emblematic place in national history as the scene of the Grito de Baire (Cry of Baire) on February 24, 1895. That day marked the official beginning of the 1895 Cuban War of Independence against Spanish colonial rule, organized by José Martí. Although the insurrection occurred simultaneously in different parts of the country, it was in Baire where the uprising took on the greatest symbolic and political resonance, becoming one of the first places where patriots took up arms to conquer freedom.
That act of defiance against the Spanish metropolis became a milestone in the independence struggle and a symbol of popular resistance. Since then, Baire’s name has been associated with rebellion and the libertarian impulse, a historical memory that resonates again today in the streets of that same town, where more than a century later, Cubans once again raise their voices against oppression.
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