Cubans demonstrate against power and food shortages
Cuba saw on Sunday March 17 the largest demonstrations since the historic mobilization of summer 2021, when hundreds of people gathered in several cities across the country, shouting “power
”
and “
food
”.
Residents are protesting against repeated power cuts and shortages, as the economic situation on the communist island has worsened over the past two years.
A woman uses her cell phone on a barely lit street in central Havana, Cuba, March 17, 2024. © Alexandre Meneghini / Reuters
By: RFI with AFP
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The
situation is so difficult
that it reminds many residents of the crisis Cuba experienced during the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991: the island then lost its main economic support and experienced very serious shortages.
Today, the recession is not at all as deep as in the early 1990s. But according to the independent NGO Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, nearly 9 out of 10 inhabitants live below the threshold of absolute poverty.
Inflation has reached 30% over the year, according to official figures.
Queues to get a few kilos of rice or coffee are daily.
The government fails to provide basic products that are theoretically accessible with the ration card.
Prices have exploded on the parallel market.
Havana even asked last month for help from the UN World Food Program (WFP) to provide powdered milk to children.
An unprecedented request for the country: if this recourse had already taken place, it was only during natural disasters.
In this already critical context, a series of new austerity measures came into force at the beginning of the month: the
official price of gasoline was multiplied by 5
and that of electricity increased by 25%, while many of residents only have power for a few hours a day.
Power recognizes “
discontent
”
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on the
social
network
He warned against “
the enemies of the Revolution
” who exploit this context “
for destabilizing purposes
”, castigating “
terrorists based in the United States, whom we have denounced on several occasions, who encourage actions to destabilize the country
".
The United States Embassy in Cuba called on the Cuban government to “
respect the rights (...) of the demonstrators
”.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez then urged Washington not to “
interfere in the country’s internal affairs
” on the same social network.
Read alsoCuba: “This July 11 was the first spontaneous demonstration against a 62-year-old regime”
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