On the evening of Sunday, October 20, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel appeared on the evening news to chair the National Defense Council, notably changing his usual attire. In recent days, he had worn short-sleeved shirts to oversee the massive power outage that affected the whole island. However, this time, he wore a military uniform alongside the prime minister, also dressed in olive green. The president's mission was to announce that the energy situation remained "complex and unstable," with the blackout continuing since 11 am on Friday, October 18, with only a few hours of relief, especially in the capital.
He also assured that civil protection services were ready to respond in the event of the arrival of Hurricane Oscar, which had been downgraded to a tropical storm by the US Hurricane Center. However, the military garb was also intended to make an impression and convey the gravity of his message, as protests had taken place the day before in several cities across the country. "A few people, most of them drunk, tried to disrupt public order, with the support of Cuban counter-revolutionary operators from abroad," he said sternly. "We want to reaffirm that the Revolution will never tolerate such behavior and that all will be prosecuted accordingly, with the severity foreseen by revolutionary laws."
Videos spread on social media on Sunday, showing small groups of people banging pots and pans, demanding the return of electricity. "People are afraid to demonstrate, even in the dark, as there has been a heavy police presence since Saturday night," explained a young man living in an outlying neighborhood of Havana, where several rallies took place. He chose to stay anonymous. "The internet has been cut off, even when the power came back on for a few hours, to prevent videos of these protests from being seen on social media."
The Justicia 11J organization, which has been reporting on protests in Cuba since the social uprising of July 11, 2021 – during which a thousand people were arrested – has documented 28 demonstrations, 21 of which took place in different parts of the capital. "However, we're nowhere near the scale of the July 2021 protests," said a Havana-based journalist. "Electricity partially returned on Monday, and the question now is whether the system will hold, as it has broken down several times in recent days. If it doesn't, the social situation could indeed worsen."
On Monday, residents of the capital were finally able to recharge their phones and get their fans running again, as night-time temperatures did not fall below 30°C. "According to the Havana Electric Company, 769,810 customers, from 301 circuits, now have electricity in Havana, representing 89.3% of the total," reported the official Cubadebate news site. In the countryside, the situation remains challenging. According to the national electricity company (UNE), the national grid had 700 megawatts available on Monday, representing only around 20% of normal demand. However, the company gave no timeframe for full restoration of the system.
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