A fresh anti-regime graffiti was discovered on Tuesday on a residential building in Santiago de Cuba. Independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada reported that the message was painted on the wall of a multifamily building, number 16, in the Micro III neighborhood of the Abel Santamaría district, commonly referred to as El Salao.
Before the authorities arrived, local residents captured photos of the graffiti. The police, reportedly, conducted fingerprint analysis and subsequently removed the message around noon. The blue-inked words declared: "Freedom Now," "1940 Constitution," and "Anti-Communist Movement."
According to Mayeta, this graffiti shared similarities with another that appeared weeks earlier at the Juan Bruno Zayas Clinical Surgical Hospital in the city. "No arrests or investigations have been reported regarding this graffiti, but for the one that appeared at the hospital, a young patient known as Yasmani Vinagera was detained. We still have no communication with him," the journalist disclosed.
Less than a month ago, various graffiti criticizing Raúl Castro emerged in the town of Dos Caminos, in the San Luis municipality of Santiago province, reflecting the growing public dissatisfaction. On that occasion, the messages, written in black pencil on what seemed to be a residential wall, read: "Down with Raúl" and "F...ing hunger."
This incident, initially reported by Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, occurred in the early hours. In Cuba, such acts of protest, increasingly common, are typically suppressed with authorities deploying experts, dogs, and specialized personnel to identify and imprison the culprits.
In May of the previous year, a court sentenced young Jorge Luis Boada Valdés to nine years in prison, allegedly responsible for a large anti-regime graffiti that appeared in the Santos Suárez neighborhood in Havana in January 2022.
Understanding the Growing Dissatisfaction in Cuba
What did the graffiti in Santiago de Cuba say?
The graffiti in Santiago de Cuba included messages like "Freedom Now," "1940 Constitution," and "Anti-Communist Movement."
Have there been any arrests linked to these graffiti?
For the graffiti in Santiago de Cuba, no arrests have been reported. However, a young man was detained in connection with a previous graffiti incident at a hospital.
How has the Cuban government responded to these protests?
The Cuban government typically suppresses such protests by deploying experts and law enforcement to identify and imprison those responsible.