Cuba warns against ‘public disorder’ as scattered protests erupt

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuban authorities said late on Saturday they would not tolerate “public disorder” as the island’s emergency workers cleared debris and worked to restore power to parts of western Cuba still in the dark four days after the passage of Hurricane Rafael.

Rafael blew down hundreds of transmission lines and poles across the western Cuba, knocking out power to the entire country of 10 million people and sparking scattered protests.

Cuba’s top prosecutor said it had pressed charges and “preventively” detained people in Havana, Mayabeque and Ciego de Avila provinces for “assault, public disorder and vandalism.”

“(Such crimes) contrast with the selfless and supportive attitude of all those who, in current circumstances, are dedicated to helping the country recover,” the prosecutor said in a statement.

“Actions carried out in the territories to recover services must be accompanied by a climate of order, discipline and respect for authorities.”

The brief note included no specifics about the arrests or the crimes committed.

More than 85% of the capital Havana had seen power restored by Sunday morning, Cuba’s grid operator said. But some residents on social media reported scattered pot-banging in protest of continuing blackouts.

Artemisa and Pinar del Rio provinces, harder hit by Rafael, were still largely without power on Sunday.

Rolling blackouts are expected to continue throughout the country, as Cuba’s antiquated oil-fired generation plants fail to produce sufficient electricity to meet demand.

Protests in communist-run Cuba are exceedingly rare but have cropped up more often as tensions flare over hours-long daily blackouts and shortages of water, fuel, food and medicine.

Although Cuba’s 2019 constitution grants citizens the right to protest, a law more specifically defining that right has for years been stalled in the legislature, leaving those who take to the street in legal limbo.

Rights groups, the European Union and the United States critiqued Cuba’s response to anti-government protests on July 11, 2021 – the largest since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution – as heavy-handed and repressive.

(Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Bill Berkrot)