In Cuba, graffiti against the “dictatorship” and Communist Party keeps appearing in public spaces, despite forensic teams photographing and erasing it before dawn. Authorities have detained people for such acts, including ten Panamanians in February, amid recent protests over electricity and food. The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded 42 cases in February 2026.
Across Cuba, messages like “Down with tyranny,” “Communism: enemy of the community,” and “We trust Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Mike Hammer” appeared on February 28 in various neighborhoods, as reported by El Estornudo. The Interior Ministry detained ten Panamanian citizens accused of propaganda against the constitutional order, facing up to eight years in prison under the Cuban Penal Code. These arrests followed a Cuban coast guard interception of a boat in territorial waters, killing four and injuring six aboard with alleged U.S. residents attempting infiltration. Since February 13, continuous anti-government mobilizations have been reported, with the largest protest in Morón, Ciego de Ávila. Participants shouted “Electricity and food!”, “Freedom!”, “Homeland and Life!”, and “Down with the dictatorship!”, burned PCC property, and reported police firing that wounded a young man, with five detentions. Similar graffiti emerged in La Cumbre (Havana), Colón (Matanzas), and Santiago de Cuba during blackouts. The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded a record 42 anti-government graffiti in February 2026. On March 9, University of Havana students held a peaceful sit-in, quickly dispersed by political police. Cases include a 57-year-old former political prisoner from Caimanera who wrote “Dictators” and “Down with communism” and stated: “One writes knowing they can put you in prison, but someone has to say what’s happening.” Others like Ariel Manuel Martín Barroso, sentenced to ten years in 2025, and recent arrests such as Felipe Rodríguez Ledesma in March 2026 for a message on his tricycle.
