Protesters took to the streets in a violent night of unrest in Cuba as demonstrators chanted “Down with Communism” and attacked Communist party offices — in a rare showing of public defiance against the dictatorial government.
Residents flooded Morón in the Ciego de Ávila region overnight into Saturday — days after protestors chanted similar slogans in Havana — for what started as a peaceful rally pushing back against unpopular Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Cane and continued power outages and food shortages.
The embattled Diaz-Cane had announced Friday that he’d begun talks with the Trump administration to try and deescalate the crippling economic crisis in Cuba after the US cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to the island, The Post reported.
But the uprising quickly turned violent early Saturday when social media videos captured protesters throwing rocks through a local government building alongside chants of “burn it” and “liberty.”
Demonstrators broke into the Morón government building and stole documents and furniture.
Footage showed men throwing furniture from the upper floor of the building, before the items were then tossed into a bonfire that was set ablaze in the street, the Miami Herald reported.
Chaos further erupted when two men set fire to palm tree branches and threw them into the office building, prompting chants of “freedom” from people nearby — followed by a single gunshot, according to the outlet.
It is unclear if anyone was injured, although videos online show a person lying on the ground after the gunshot rang out. State media outlet Vanguardia de Cuba disputed online reports that the person had been shot by police.
“Media manipulation seeks to sow fear and confusion among our people. Let’s not fall for provocations,” the state media outlet added.
Following the chaos, local state newspaper, Invasor, said that Cuban authorities were investigating the “vandalism” and noted other state-run establishments were also impacted, including a pharmacy and a store.
“What began peacefully, and after an exchange with local authorities, escalated into vandalism against the headquarters of the Municipal Party Committee,” Invasor wrote.
“A smaller group of people threw stones at the building’s entrance and started a fire in the street, burning furniture from the reception area.”
Local police detained five people during the protests.
The raging uprising this week was the first seen on the shores of Cuba since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Residents in Havana were chanting “down with communism” while banging pots and pans over the extended blackouts earlier in the week — and students staged a sit in at the University of Havana Monday after the government canceled classes, while blaming a US oil blockade for a near collapse of Cuba’s electrical grid.
After Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro was captured by US forces in January — President Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba which created an economic chokepoint for the country’s already faltering electrical grid.
Trump predicted the communist dictatorship in Cuba ‘will fall pretty soon’ last week and claimed the Communist country ‘wants to make a deal so badly’ — after he previously warning the US might launch a ‘friendly takeover of Cuba.’
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