Havana (AFP) – At least 15 protesters were sentenced to up to nine years in prison after participating in a day of protests in Cuba last year over power and food shortages, the island’s Supreme Court said. Hundreds of people took to the streets in three Cuban cities on March 17, 2024, during a tense weekend of blackouts that lasted up to 13 hours a day in some provinces. The marches in Santiago de Cuba, Bayamo, and Santa Marta were the largest since the social unrest of July 11, 2021, which saw hundreds of protesters convicted, some with sentences of up to 25 years.
The People’s Supreme Court of Cuba reported in a statement on Friday night that, among the 15 people tried in the city of Bayamo, “eight were sentenced to between six and nine years in prison, five to between three and five years, and two to correctional labor without imprisonment.” It said that the detainees had committed “crimes of public disorder, assault, resistance, contempt, disobedience, and incitement.” Outbreaks of this type of protest, previously unthinkable on the island ruled by the Communist Party, have skyrocketed since 2022.
Amid a worsening energy crisis, Cuba has experienced six widespread blackouts in less than three years. The country’s 9.7 million inhabitants suffer daily scheduled power cuts, which in August reached an average of 15 hours. The government says that a strict US embargo prevents it from repairing its electrical infrastructure, which requires Cuba’s scarce fuel to operate.
A week ago, another march of dozens of people took place in Gibara, a picturesque town in the east. Residents complained of spending more than 20 hours without power and weeks without water, a resident who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals told AFP. The Madrid-based Cuban Human Rights Observatory said on X that it confirmed 27 detentions, with four people still “deprived of their liberty.”
Laritza Diversent, director of Cubalex, told AFP that the Miami-based NGO also verified four protesters were under arrest in Gibara. At least 180 people were apprehended at demonstrations over power outages between 2022 and September 2025, added Diversent, saying this number was “an underestimate.”
© 2024 AFP
