Blackouts skyrocket global political unrest

There were numerous clashes with police, as officials carried out arrests of protesters and deployed tear gas and other repressive measures, in some cases leading protesters to overturn police cars or pelt them with rocks and concrete. Protesters also looted some вЂњdollar stores,вЂќ widely hated as symbols of inequality where those with access to dollars are able to purchase imported items at inflated prices. While some protesters advanced slogans including вЂњFreedomвЂќ and вЂњDown with the dictatorship,вЂќ others called attention to increasing hunger and food shortages, and in some cases demanded COVID-19 vaccines and other medical supplies as cases of the Delta variant flare. However, as videos circulated on social media, they quickly spread elsewhere, including Havana, and most of the countryвЂ™s major cities, including Santiago de Cuba, Santa Clara, Matanzas, Cienfuegos and HolguГn, as well as numerous smaller towns such as Palma Soriano.

Protests appear to have begun in San Antonio de los BaГ±os, a municipality southwest of the capital. Anti-government protesters march in Havana, Cuba, Sunday, July 11, 2021.

Blackouts skyrocket global political unrest