“Cuba is Next”: Havana Erupts in Nighttime Protests After 60 Hours Without Power as Trump Vows Regime Will Fall

MIAMI – Cubans took to the streets of Havana Friday night in the most widespread demonstrations the island has seen in months. Residents could be heard banging pots and pans, a traditional expression of political dissatisfaction known as cacerolazo, commonly practised in the region.

Cubans have lived in darkness after more than 60 consecutive hours without electricity, while just 90 miles away in Doral, Florida, the president of the United States was telling Latin American leaders that Cuba’s communist government is living on borrowed time.

The Streets

On Friday night, several areas of Cuba, notably Havana and the municipality of Jagüey Grande in Matanzas province, witnessed pot-banging protests driven by extended power outages affecting a significant portion of the country.

Social media videos showed residents banging pots from their homes and in the streets, while shouts of protest echoed through neighborhoods plunged into darkness. Chants of “freedom” and “down with communism” were audible in multiple recordings.

Cuba’s national electricity grid recorded a generation capacity deficit of 2,046 megawatts at 7:10 p.m. on Friday—its worst peak deficit in recent memory. By Saturday morning, the system’s available generation stood at just 1,000 megawatts against a national demand of 2,223 megawatts, leaving a deficit of 1,266 megawatts affecting millions of Cubans.

The protests broke out after Cuba entered its 60th consecutive hour without electricity, with demonstrations reported across multiple neighborhoods of the capital.

Cuban-American Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar reacted immediately, posting on Facebook: “Cuba is in the streets demanding freedom. To the dictatorship: no more abuses against the Cuban people!” She shared a video of Cuban residents pot-banging in the darkness of night atop their balconies in Havana, saying: “This is the people of Cuba, we are listening to you.”

Florida Representative Carlos Giménez also posted on X: “The people of Cuba are on the streets demanding freedom. This moment is incredible.”

The Doral Speech

Thirty miles to the north, at Trump National Doral, the ‘Shield of the Americas’ Summit was wrapping up its first session when Trump addressed the Cuba question directly.

Speaking to assembled Latin American leaders, Trump said that after the completion of U.S. military operations against Iran, Washington would turn its attention to Cuba—and that the communist regime’s days are numbered. “Cuba is on the verge of bending the knee,” Trump declared.

The U.S. president confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been tasked with leading negotiations with the Cuban government, adding that Rubio was simply waiting for the Iran operation to reach its conclusion before pivoting back home to the Western Hemisphere and the Caribbean.

Trump also revisited his oft-repeated prediction, telling the Doral summit: “Maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba. We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba.”

The human cost of the standoff is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Experts warn that if no new fuel shipments reach the island in March, Cuba could reach what they call “zero hour”—the total depletion of its fuel reserves—triggering the worst economic collapse the country has experienced since the 1930s. An average state salary currently amounts to less than $13 at the informal exchange rate.

A carton of 30 eggs costs the equivalent of nearly half a monthly wage.

The United States has confirmed that regime change in Cuba is a goal for the end of 2026, and has called on the government of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel to “make a deal before it’s too late.”

For Miami’s Cuban exile community—which watched the Doral summit from their living rooms and the Havana protests on their phones simultaneously—Saturday, March 7, 2026 felt like a turning point. Whether it is one remains to be seen. But the pots are banging, the lights are out, and the most powerful man in the world just said Cuba is next.