Fifth Anniversary of 11J: Pot-Banging Protests Erupt Across Cuba

On the fifth anniversary of the historic July 11, 2021 uprising, demonstrators in Old Havana and Guanabacoa banged pots and chanted against the government, with the regime deploying police and paramilitary forces to the Communist Party's municipal headquarters in response. State Security agents surrounded the homes of activist Berta Soler and other Ladies in White to preempt anniversary gatherings. The protests came amid record hardship: political prisoners now number between 1,260 and 1,306 (including 338 still held from the original 2021 crackdown), and residents in Guanabacoa's Nalón neighborhood had just endured more than 33 consecutive hours without power following the July 10 grid collapse.