Cuban police forces escalated their presence during spontaneous vigils held for El Taiger across various parks in Santiago de Cuba on Saturday night. Officers managed to disperse a gathering at Parque del Reparto El Caney, while similar gatherings, primarily attended by young people, took place elsewhere in the city.
Authorities informed attendees that the government had not authorized the vigils, according to independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, who reported on social media about the government's anxiety over potential public discontent due to the ongoing energy and food crises in Cuba.
Despite these restrictions, vigils were successfully held at Avenida Los Pinos and the Santiago Malecón. Many participants arrived discreetly, concealing candles in bags and pockets, wary of police intervention, until they gradually gathered to hold the vigil. Mayeta Labrada described scenes of people chanting and dancing to El Taiger's music, placing candles before an image of the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, the Patroness of Cuba.
Vigils Reach Beyond Santiago
Reports indicated that similar vigils occurred in Bayamo and Boyeros, as well as in Guantánamo, where hundreds took to the streets on Saturday night.
José Manuel Carbajal Zadívar, the Cuban reggaeton artist known as El Taiger, age 37, was critically injured after being shot in the head last Thursday. He remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where he underwent surgery. Investigations into the incident are ongoing.
Members of El Taiger's team, who have stayed by his side, have shared updates on his condition, stating that he is "stable" yet still critically ill. "I spent the entire day with El Taiger. He is stable, still in a critical state, but with God's grace, he will be with us soon. Please keep praying for him, that's all I sincerely ask," they have remarked.