Protesters Burn Communist HQ as Trump Talks Spark Hope
Nightly protests against communism across Cuba reached a fever pitch this weekend as demonstrators, armed with little more than piles of trash and combustible materials, set fire to the Communist Party headquarters in Morón, Ciego de Ávila, in the early hours of Saturday.
Cuba has experienced ten consecutive nights of nationwide protests, following months in which hundreds of protests across the island broke documented records, in response to the worsening state of poverty and misery under communism in the early months of this year. While Cubans have long experienced extreme shortages, a lack of access to basics such as food and medical care, and violent repression of their rights, the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on January 3 cut off a critical lifeline of nearly free gasoline, which also left the country almost entirely without fuel. electricity.
Without electricity, the regime cannot operate surveillance technologies properly – or even lights at night to see the faces of protesters – a situation that Cuban citizens have taken advantage of, rushing into the streets shouting “Freedom!” and “down with communism!” »
The protests appear to have been emboldened by the Communist Party, which admitted Friday that its officials were in talks with President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump has told reporters for weeks that he was in conversations with Cuban officials about the possibility of ending the country’s 67-year-old repressive communist regime, but the party had denied such discussions until abruptly. confirming them Friday.
Many of these protests have involved Cubans burning the huge piles of trash that the regime has left to fester on street corners in major cities. In Morón, protesters escalated this tactic Friday evening by first looting the Communist Party headquarters, then burning the furniture and documents there — and then appearing to set the building on fire.
Dramatic video footage, taken by locals, shows a huge bonfire outside the building and potentially in contact with it (the quality of video footage on Cuban cell phones is limited). In some videos circulating online – and shared by reputable media outlets such as Cubanet and Martí Noticias – women near the fire can be heard brutally shouting: “Burn it, to hell with it!” » while we hear the men shouting “burn everything!” »
[Warning: Graphic language in Spanish]
Cubanet reported that the demonstration in Morón attracted “hundreds” of people and was confirmed by local communist media coverage. The newspaper reported that at least five people were arrested and one injured.
Speaking anonymously to Martí Noticias, a US-based company, a resident of Morón describe a heartbreaking scene of chaotic repression in response to the uprising. The person estimated that “over a thousand people” had gathered to protest communism, but were met with fierce brutality, including children.
“They completely ransacked the Party, outside, they burned everything. Most of the people were young people, around 15 years old, a lot of young people, they arrested a lot of young people,” detailed the source.
“It was 300 percent repression,” the testimony continues. “More than four police officers were beaten and there were more than a thousand, more than a thousand people. … the repression was very vast, big, big, huge.”
“A 15-year-old boy, covered in blood, beaten, oppressed,” detailed the person concerned. “There were rocks flying.”
Telemundo reported that at least one person was shot, apparently in the leg. Some unconfirmed reports identified the victim as a teenager.
Demonstrations following Saturday and Sunday, including in Havana, where the massive presence of the Communist Party makes public outbursts more difficult. In the capital, demonstrations largely took the form of “cacerolazos“, a common protest practice in Latin America in which residents bang pots and pans as loudly as possible to express their disapproval of the current situation. Cubanet listed at least five neighborhoods in Havana and erupted in a cacophony of banging pots and pans on Saturday evening. To clarify their goal, the protesters also shouted “Down with communism!” » and “freedom!”
Some reports also documented cries of “let Trump come!” » Last week, protesters spray painted “Long live Trump!” on the sides of government buildings in the province of Matanzas.
Similar protests reportedly took place in Holguín and Santiago de Cuba, in the eastern half of the island. Unlike Havana, these protests also saw street crowds demonstrating at night. Cubanet reported that these protests also attracted the notorious “black berets” – the Communist Party’s most feared state security thugs, known for shooting unarmed protesters, sometimes in their own homes.
The Communist Party acknowledged the unrest on Sunday. Miguel Díaz-Canel, the figurehead “president” who usually replaces dictator Raúl Castro, shared a strangely conciliatory message on his Twitter account, saying his frustration was “understandable.”
“The unease our citizens feel because of the prolonged power outages, a consequence of the United States’ energy blockade, cruelly reinforced in recent months, is understandable,” Diaz-Canel said. said. The “president” falsely blamed the United States for the widespread shortage of fuel and goods – omitting that, if the regime had managed its finances properly, it could easily purchase oil or sign energy infrastructure deals with allies such as Russia, China and Canada. Nothing in the barely existing “embargo” prevents the Communist Party from entering into these agreements.
After admitting to “understanding” the unrest, Díaz-Canel once again threatened the Cuban people.
“Complaints and demands are legitimate, provided they act with courtesy and respect for public order,” his message continues. “What will never be understandable, justified or authorized are the violence and acts of vandalism attempted against the peace of citizens and the security of our institutions.
Although a clear threat, the tone of the message differs significantly from that of the July 11, 2021 protests, when Díaz-Canel appeared on television and urged all communists in the country to violently attack anyone they thought was an anti-communist dissident.
“We call on all revolutionary communists to take to the streets where these provocations are occurring and confront them firmly,” he said. said at the time. “The order to fight is given, the revolutionaries in the streets.”
Communists too tent to stage an “act of revolutionary reaffirmation” in Morón after the siege of the Communist Party headquarters, but this appeared to attract only a small number of people before reports Saturday evening that protests had resumed.
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