# Fresh protests erupt in Havana and Guanabacoa on Cuba's fifth anniversary of the 11J uprising as security forces deploy > Cubans in Old Havana and Guanabacoa banged pots and chanted against the government on July 12, five years after the July 11, 2021 protests swept dozens of Cuban cities; Cuban security forces deployed in Havana; residents in Guanabacoa staged demonstrations after more than 33 consecutive hours without electricity; US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and UN Ambassador Mike Waltz each issued statements calling for the release of more than 800 political prisoners held since 2021; Cuban Americans held a Liberation Day rally in Miami **Meta:** type: event · date: 2026-07-11 · heads: 誰が決めるのか, 語られていないこと · 22 takes · 5 lenses · 6 regions ## Summary [Cuba](/ja/entity/cuba) marked five years since the July 11, 2021 protests with fresh demonstrations in Old Havana and Guanabacoa on July 12, as residents banged pots and chanted against the government after more than 33 consecutive hours without electricity in some areas; [Cuban](/ja/entity/cuba) security forces deployed in Havana. US Secretary of State [Marco Rubio](/ja/entity/marco-rubio) and UN Ambassador Mike Waltz issued statements calling for the release of over 800 political prisoners held since 2021. Cuban Americans marked the anniversary as Liberation Day at a rally in Miami's Little Havana, with both Trump and Rubio delivering messages calling for reforms and political freedom. ## The split [Cuba's](/ja/entity/cuba) Communist Party newspaper Granma covered the fifth 11J anniversary on July 11 without mentioning the anniversary. Its top stories: Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez blamed the National Electric System's latest collapse on the US blockade ("equivalent to a naval blockade, an act of war"), and a New York solidarity rally calling for an end to US sanctions. President Díaz-Canel visited a military defense zone in Havana's Cerro municipality as part of National Defense Day exercises. Protests in Havana and Guanabacoa were absent from the coverage. Rights organizations offered a different account. Human Rights Watch's July 10 report found about 800 political prisoners remaining in Cuba, 338 imprisoned specifically for the 2021 protests, with convictions for "what should be lawful acts of free expression." Former detainees described beatings, solitary confinement, and denial of medical care. [Cuba's](/ja/entity/cuba) April 2026 pardon of 2,010 prisoners explicitly excluded everyone convicted of "crimes against authority," the charge applied to 11J demonstrators; Amnesty International confirmed none of Cuba's prisoners of conscience were among the 2,010 released. The sharpest divide opened around artist and San Isidro Movement leader Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. State Security removed him from Guanajay prison on July 7, two days before his five-year sentence expired on July 9, without notifying his family. Amnesty International declared a forced disappearance on July 10. The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances activated Urgent Action AU 2357/2026, setting a July 25 deadline for [Cuba](/ja/entity/cuba) to report his whereabouts. Cuban state media did not cover the case. Regional coverage divides sharply: - [US](/ja/entity/united-states) officials (Secretary Rubio, UN Ambassador Waltz), Miami's Cuban-American community, and most of Latin America's independent press frame the anniversary around political prisoners, worsening blackouts, and fresh street protests. - [Venezuela's](/ja/entity/venezuela) oil supply to [Cuba](/ja/entity/cuba) was cut after the change of government in Caracas in 2026, severing the pipeline that had kept Cuba's grid barely alive; Venezuelan opposition outlet La Patilla frames 11J as ongoing resistance. - Colombia's El Espectador argues Cuba is "exporting a repression model" to other governments in the region. ## By the numbers - **1,306**: Political prisoners in [Cuba](/ja/entity/cuba) as of July 9, 2026, the highest number ever documented (Prisoners Defenders) - **338**: Of those, still imprisoned specifically for the 2021 protests - **2,010**: Prisoners released in Cuba's April 2026 pardon; none from "crimes against authority" (the 11J charge) - **107**: Street protests recorded in Cuba in June 2026, nearly double the previous monthly record of 54 (set March 2026) - **33**: Consecutive hours without electricity in Guanabacoa before the July 12 cacerolazo - **4**: Nationwide grid collapses in Cuba in 2026; the July 10 collapse was the seventh in 18 months - **1 million+**: Cubans who fled the island between 2021 and 2026 ## Why it matters The 2021 protests were the largest seen in [Cuba](/ja/entity/cuba) since 1994. Five years on, the power cuts, food shortages and political repression that drove them persist and have worsened. Cuba's government has imprisoned more than 800 demonstrators from the 2021 crackdown, making their cases a persistent focal point in [US](/ja/entity/united-states)-Cuba relations under the [Rubio](/ja/entity/marco-rubio)-led State Department. The April 2026 mass pardon, which freed 2,010 prisoners while explicitly excluding 11J protesters, illustrated the government's position: amnesty is available, but not for those who challenged its authority in the streets. ## What to watch - **July 25, 2026**: Whether [Cuba](/ja/entity/cuba) responds to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances' demand for information on the whereabouts of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara (Urgent Action AU 2357/2026) - Whether Cuba's government responds to anniversary protests with fresh arrests or any conciliation - The fate of the 338 political prisoners still imprisoned for the 2021 demonstrations - US policy on Cuba under the Trump administration, including possible additional sanctions targeting the energy sector - Cuba's power crisis: whether the seventh grid collapse in 18 months changes the political calculus for the government ## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens) ### Cuban exile media outlet; provides the structural context of how Cuba's government has changed since 2021 without holding elections, framing the anniversary as a referendum on the post-Raúl succession - **Cuba Headlines** (Cuba (diaspora), en) — Cuba Headlines, a Cuban exile publication, frames the 11J anniversary through the lens of political transition: the Díaz-Canel government's passage from Raúl Castro's 'combat order' to what the outlet calls an 'unvoted heir'. It positions the anniversary protests as a test of whether civic memory of 2021 has survived five years of repression and prison sentences. > "Half a decade has passed since the July 11, 2021 protests. Cuba's post-Raúl government has imprisoned over 800 demonstrators, with no election or accountability since." Source: https://www.cubaheadlines.com/articles/334800 ### US English-language broadcaster in Miami, the largest Cuban-American community; retrospective framing of the 2021 protests as a structural turning point in Cuban civil society - **NBC Miami** (United States, en) — NBC Miami's retrospective reports that the 2021 protests spread across dozens of Cuban cities, driven by blackouts, shortages of food and medicine, the pandemic's economic impact and growing dissatisfaction with the government. The piece quotes sources who describe the protests as the largest seen in Cuba since 1994, while noting that none of the underlying conditions have been resolved. > "Five years ago, protests quickly spread across dozens of Cuban cities, driven by blackouts, shortages of food and medicine, the pandemic, and growing dissatisfaction with Cuba's political situation." Source: https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/5-years-after-july-11-the-protest-that-changed-cuba-forever/3832551/ ### unlabelled - **Cuba Headlines (Guanabacoa)** (Cuba (diaspora), en) — Source: https://www.cubaheadlines.com/articles/334869 - **Cuba Headlines (Old Havana)** (Cuba (diaspora), en) — Source: https://www.cubaheadlines.com/articles/334871 - **Cuba Headlines (UN Ambassador Waltz)** (Cuba (diaspora), en) — Source: https://www.cubaheadlines.com/articles/334860 - **PJ Media** (United States, en) — Source: https://pjmedia.com/sarah-anderson/2026/07/12/on-this-important-anniversary-trump-and-rubio-have-a-message-for-cuba-n4954928 - **Local 10 (WPLG Miami)** (United States, en) — Source: https://www.local10.com/news/world/2026/07/11/cubans-liberation-day-rally-in-miami-marks-5th-anniversary-of-protests/ - **CBS News Miami** (United States, en) — Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/little-havana-5th-anniversary-rally-july-11-protests-cuba/ - **Cuba Headlines (Rubio statement)** (Cuba (diaspora), en) — Source: https://www.cubaheadlines.com/articles/334789 - **Granma (NY rally)** (Cuba, es) — Source: https://www.granma.cu/mundo/2026-07-11/movilizacion-en-nueva-york-exige-el-fin-del-bloqueo-contra-cuba-11-07-2026-14-07-23 - **Cubadebate** (Cuba, es) — Source: http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2026/07/11/presidente-diaz-canel-visito-la-zona-de-defensa-latinoamericano-en-el-municipio-cerro/ - **14ymedio** (Cuba (diaspora), es) — Source: https://www.14ymedio.com/cuba/cinco-anos-despues-11j-regimen_1_1128687.html - **Diario de Cuba (Díaz-Canel military)** (Cuba (diaspora), es) — Source: https://diariodecuba.com/cuba/1783760552_67931.html - **Infobae** (Argentina, es) — Source: https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2026/07/09/a-horas-del-quinto-aniversario-del-11j-cuba-batio-su-record-de-represion-con-1306-presos-politicos-y-40-menores-detenidos/ - **La Patilla** (Venezuela, es) — Source: https://lapatilla.com/2026/07/11/a-cinco-anos-del-historico-11jul-en-cuba-el-regimen-no-va-a-apagar-las-ansias-de-libertad-del-pueblo/ - **El Espectador** (Colombia, es) — Source: https://www.elespectador.com/mundo/america/los-ecos-del-11j-cuba-exporta-un-modelo-el-de-reprimir/ - **CiberCuba (UN Committee)** (Cuba (diaspora), es) — Source: https://www.cibercuba.com/noticias/2026-07-09-u1-e199894-s27061-nid334651-comite-contra-desaparicion-forzada-onu-activa-accion - **Diario de Cuba (Otero Alcántara)** (Cuba (diaspora), es) — Source: https://diariodecuba.com/derechos-humanos/1783624120_67909.html - **Havana Times** (Cuba (diaspora), en) — Source: https://havanatimes.org/features/luis-manuel-otero-remains-in-cuban-state-securitys-hands/ - **Human Rights Watch (April release)** (United States, en) — Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/04/08/cubas-prisoner-release-excludes-critics ### Cuba's Communist Party official newspaper; on the fifth 11J anniversary, framed the National Electric System blackout as a US blockade consequence and covered a New York solidarity rally; neither the Havana protests nor the 11J date appeared in the July 11 edition - **Granma** (Cuba, es) — Granma ran Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez's statement that Cuba's July 10 power blackout is 'a consequence of the intensification of the blockade.' The same edition published a piece on a New York solidarity rally calling for an end to US sanctions. The 11J anniversary and protests in Havana were absent from the edition. > "Cuban FM Rodríguez on the July 10 blackout: the energy siege is equivalent to a naval blockade, an act of war that prevents access to fuel supplies through direct threats. (translated)" Source: https://www.granma.cu/cuba/2026-07-11/canciller-cubano-la-nueva-desconexion-del-sen-es-una-consecuencia-del-recrudecimiento-del-bloqueo-11-07-2026-12-07-28 ### US-based rights organization; fifth-anniversary report documented ~800 political prisoners in Cuba including 338 imprisoned for the 2021 protests; found convictions for lawful expression; documented beatings, solitary confinement, and denial of medical care - **Human Rights Watch** (United States, en) — HRW's fifth-anniversary report found about 800 political prisoners in Cuba, 338 imprisoned specifically for the 2021 protests, with convictions for 'what should be lawful acts of free expression.' Former detainees described beatings, solitary confinement, and denial of medical care in Cuban detention facilities. > "Cuban courts convicted many of them of crimes for engaging in what should be lawful acts of free expression and association." Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/10/five-years-on-hundreds-of-cuban-protesters-still-behind-bars ## Across the graph - Related: [[scotus-exxon-cuba-ruling]] - Entities: Cuba, United States, Marco Rubio, Austerity and the Street, People Power Ousters --- Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/ja/n/cuba-11j-anniversary-jul12