Cubans are once again taking to the streets to protest and make demands of the Government, as their living conditions have deteriorated significantly in recent days, and this is not because of the hurricane that recently affected the western provinces.
All of Cuba is languishing without electricity and, therefore, in a dire state in terms of access to food and hospital care, to cite just two of the main deficiencies being suffered. Meanwhile, where is Miguel Díaz-Canel? Where is Raúl Castro?
Until September 28, Díaz-Canel's Twitter account as a government representative featured several tweets a day. Since then ? silence. In recent hours, the Twitter account of the Presidency of Cuba has only addressed the recovery of the western provinces in the wake of the last cyclone.
Raúl Castro, Miguel Díaz-Canel and the regime's entire leadership now face a huge dilemma: the crisis demands an immediate solution, they have nothing to offer, popular protests are back, are expected to escalate, and the authorities will not be able to grapple with them without resorting to the kind of repression they did on 11J. But they need international aid like never before, and are now desperate enough to ask the US for it.
To crack down on the population now, when international aid is being requested to solve their problems, would be an inexcusable contradiction in the eyes of the public and those foreign governments that are not accomplices of the Cuban regime.
Cuban authorities are between a rock and a hard place. They have asked (for the second time in a very short period of time) the US government for assistance, thus precluding them from pointing to the "imperialist blockade." And they will not be able to convince world opinion that "the people" actually support repressive actions against those in the streets demanding decent living conditions.
So, what are these authorities going to do in the face of what is happening in Cuba right now?