Six dead in wake of Hurricane as blackouts trigger protests

Six people have been confirmed dead in Cuba after Hurricane Oscar made landfall on Sunday, bringing winds and heavy rain before being downgraded to a tropical storm on Monday.

Mass blackouts across the Caribbean nation generated a handful of small protests as the island braced for the fourth night of a massive blackout, with a stern government warning that any unrest would be punished.

Protests involved several dozen people in urban neighbourhoods like Santos Suarez and central Havana.

Some banged pots and pans in the streets, while others demonstrated from their balconies.

Protesters who said they have no water blocked at least one street with garbage.

“The country has completely halted,” said homemaker Mayde Quinones, 55, who cares for her mother-in-law, who is in her 80s.

“This hurts everyone, but the elderly most of all.”

The Cuban government has a low tolerance for civil disobedience and President Miguel Diaz-Canel warned on national television on Sunday that “we’re not going to allow any vandalism, or let anyone disturb people’s tranquillity.”

The prolonged nationwide blackout followed a massive outage on Thursday night, part of energy problems that led to the largest protests in Cuba in almost 30 years in July 2021.

Those were followed by smaller local protests in October 2022 and March 2024.