Nightly protests against communism throughout Cuba reached a fever pitch this weekend as protesters, armed with little more than local piles of garbage and combustible material, set fire to the Communist Party headquarters in Morón, Ciego de Ávila, in the early morning hours of Saturday. Cuba has experienced ten consecutive nights of nationwide protests, following months in which hundreds of protests throughout the island have broken documented records, in response to the aggravated state of poverty and misery under communism in the first months of this year. While Cubans have long experienced extreme shortages, a lack of access to basics such as food and medical care, and the violent repression of their rights, the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on January 3 cut off a critical lifeline of nearly free fuel that has also left the country almost entirely without electricity.
Without power, the regime cannot properly operate surveillance technology – or even lights at nighttime to see the faces of protesters – a situation that Cuban citizens have taken advantage of, rushing into the streets shouting “freedom!” and “down with communism!” The protests appear to have been emboldened by the Communist Party admitting on Friday that its officials are in talks with the administration of President Donald Trump. Trump has for weeks told reporters that he was in conversation with Cuban officials for the possibility of an end to the repressive, 67-year-old communist regime in the country, but the Party had denied such talks until abruptly confirming them on Friday. Many of these protests have involved Cubans burning the massive piles of garbage that the regime has allowed to fester on street corners in major cities. In Morón, the protesters escalated this tactic on Friday night by reportedly first looting the headquarters of the Communist Party there, then burning the furniture and documents there in – and later appearing to set the building on fire.
