On Sunday, March 17, something very rare happened in Cuba. Something that, according to Time, is most commonly illegal in the communist island country: A protest.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in Cuba’s second-largest city, Santiago. Their demands were direct and simple: “Power and food.”
In social media posts, protesters can be seen chanting “tenemos hambre,” meaning “we are hungry,” and “corriente y comida,” meaning “power and food,” referencing their discontent with the country’s current food shortages and power outages that have left some areas without electricity for up to 14 hours a day.
With an official annual inflation rate of a dizzying 30%, and skyrocketing prices for basic commodities and services, the crisis in Cuba is not merely bad. According to The Conversation, it is the worst in 30 years.
Earlier this year, Cuba made an unprecedented request for assistance from the United Nations’ World Food Programme to buy powdered milk for children, as the milk supply crisis deepens.