Protest in Cajima, Holguin Over Demands for Water and Food
Several residents clashed with uniformed agents and officials in the middle of a road.
HAVANA TIMES – The shortage of water, food, and basic services—especially in the rural areas of the Island—sparked another popular protest against the authorities on Saturday in the town of Cajima, in the Holguin municipality of Mayari. According to reports on social media, where videos and images were also shared, several people were arrested by the police.
“This is being talked about all over Holguin. It’s said that State Security detained several people and is keeping others under surveillance,” a resident of the provincial capital told 14ymedio. This information matches other accounts stating that, following the protest, “water appeared immediately.”
In the shared images and videos, several residents can be seen struggling with uniformed agents and officials in state vehicles in the middle of a road. Children are also visible in the scene, and the detention—of unknown duration—of some residents is recorded.
Cajima is a small rural community with about 4,100 inhabitants. The town is located “at the entrance to the road leading to the Felton Thermoelectric Plant.”
In the midst of an energy and basic supply crisis, and with a fierce drought hitting the Island, it is the smallest and most remote communities that suffer most from the lack of basic services. This year, several protests have erupted across the Island, with demonstrators unanimously demanding electricity, water, or food.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.
I have friends 40 km from there in a rural area I only get one short text a week now things are very difficult now no electricity no water except from the river no medicine no fuel for the generator at the medical center
On the one hand, I am surprised there are not more protests around the country. But knowing the Cuban culture as well as I do, I suppose the lack of protests simply reflects the fear of consequences and the resignation in the will of Cubans after 66 years of repression. On the other hand, I have to consider how bad conditions must truly be to have stirred Cubans in Cojima to break with the status quo. But as long as the protests are largely in the poorest and most rural parts of Cuba, nothing will come of it. The Castro dictatorship, however, should fear the day when the streets of Vedado in Havana are filled with protesters banging pots and pans. When middle-class Cubans have reached their limit, that’s when change will come.