Protesters Attack Communist Party Building in Rare Show of Unrest in Cuba

Protesters attacked a Communist Party building in the central Cuban city of Morón over the weekend, a rare escalation of unrest in a country where public dissent is tightly controlled. Demonstrators threw stones at the local party headquarters, entered the building and set furniture on fire, according to reporting by The New York Times.

The incident began late Friday as a peaceful gathering of several hundred people protesting prolonged power outages and shortages of food and fuel. Protesters marched through the city banging pots and pans and shining cellphone flashlights during a blackout that had left many homes without electricity for more than a day.

Some demonstrators shouted slogans including "Electricity and food," "Freedom," and "Down with the dictatorship," according to videos circulating on social media cited by DW. The protest escalated when a smaller group approached the municipal headquarters of the Communist Party, the only legal political organization in Cuba, and began throwing stones at the building.

Video footage verified by the outlet shows protesters approaching the building with burning objects and throwing them inside. In one clip, a man can be heard shouting "Burn it all," while others chant "Freedom." Another video appears to capture the sound of a gunshot, though it remains unclear whether anyone was shot.

Authorities said at least five people were arrested, while Cuba's Interior Ministry also reported that one person described as intoxicated was injured after falling and was treated at a hospital.

Experts say the attack marks one of the most significant episodes of unrest in Cuba in recent years. Andrés Pertierra, a historian of Cuba at the University of Wisconsin, told NYT that attempts to burn a Communist Party building are "extremely unusual," noting that past protests typically focused on demands for electricity or basic services.

The protest occurred hours after President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged in a televised address that Cuban officials had recently held talks with the Trump administration, which has effectively halted oil shipments to the island in recent months. Díaz-Canel described the impact of the resulting fuel shortages as "tremendous."

Cuba's worsening energy crisis has led to prolonged blackouts across the country, disrupting food distribution and other basic services. Residents have increasingly expressed frustration through nighttime protests and pot-banging demonstrations.