Cuban protesters attack Communist Party building in video amid alleged gunfire
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Protesters attacked the Communist Party headquarters in Cuba overnight, looting the building and attempting to set it on fire, according to footage obtained by Fox News Digital. The video showed gunshots and a man lying on the ground outside.
Cuban state media later denied that anyone had been hit by police gunfire and announced that five people had been arrested.
Dramatic footage shows a large crowd gathering in front of the building in the city of Morón, a fire breaking out in the street, and protesters throwing burning objects at the building.
Protesters chanting “Freedom, freedom!” He can be heard chanting slogans. — Spanish for “Freedom, freedom!” means. – moments before gunshots are heard in the video.
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Protesters carrying flaming objects approach the Communist Party headquarters in Morón, Cuba, during overnight unrest. Video obtained by Fox News Digital shows demonstrators attempting to set fire to the building amid protests linked to widespread power outages. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
A young man appears to collapse to the ground as others nearby scream in Spanish.
“They shot! They’re shooting! They said they wouldn’t shoot, but they shot.”
The video then shows people carrying the injured man.
Another video obtained by Fox News Digital showed large crowds able to march through the unlit streets of Morón before the unrest spread to Communist Party headquarters.
Morón is located on the north coast of Cuba, about 250 miles east of the capital Havana, near the tourist resort of Cayo Coco.
State media outlet Vanguardia de Cuba said on X: “The circulating footage shows the scene of the protest, but it is important for the public to know the truth: No one was injured in the gunfire.”
“Media manipulation aims to create fear and confusion among our people. Let’s not fall for the provocations.”
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Protesters gather outside the Communist Party headquarters in Morón, Cuba, as a fire burns in the street during overnight riots. Video obtained by Fox News Digital shows demonstrators attempting to set fire to the building amid protests linked to widespread power outages. (Reuters)
State media reported that police detained five people and that a “drunk” participant was treated in hospital for injuries he fell from.
Last week, several small groups of Havana residents banged pots to protest prolonged power outages.
Cuba has faced rolling power outages, food shortages and renewed protests over the island’s worsening energy and economic crisis.
According to Reuters, a recent nationwide power outage due to a malfunction at the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant, the island’s largest power plant, has led to a power outage across much of the country.
The crisis was exacerbated by fuel shortages after the Trump administration moved to reduce oil shipments to the island, especially from Venezuela, one of Cuba’s main suppliers.
Cuban officials say U.S. sanctions have worsened the country’s economic woes, with repeated power plant failures and an aging power grid leaving millions of people facing prolonged power outages, leading to growing public anger and protests.
A Cuban woman wearing a T-shirt with the United States flag sells coconut cookies on a Havana street on Saturday. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)
“What initially started peacefully and following an exchange with local officials escalated into acts of vandalism against the headquarters of the Municipal Party Committee,” state-run newspaper Invasor reported. Reuters.
“A smaller group of people threw stones at the entrance to the building and started fires with furniture in the reception area and in the street.”
The vandals also targeted many other state-run establishments in the area, including a pharmacy and a government market, the report said.
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On Friday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said he was in talks with the US government; This marks the first time the Caribbean nation has confirmed widespread speculation about talks with the Trump administration.
Díaz-Canel said no oil shipments had arrived in Cuba in the last three months and blamed the US energy blockade. He said the island is powered by a mix of natural gas, solar power and thermoelectric plants.
Efrat Lachter of Fox News, Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
