Thread by @Reuters

Chanting 'freedom' and calling for President Miguel Diaz-Canel to step down, thousands of Cubans joined street protests from Havana to Santiago in the biggest anti-government demonstrations on the Communist-run island in decades reut.rs/3yRv9KH 1/5

Protests erupted amid Cuba's worst economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union, its old ally, and a record surge in coronavirus infections, with people voicing anger over shortages of basic goods, curbs on civil liberties and the authorities' handling of the pandemic 2/5

Special forces jeeps, with machine guns mounted on the back, were seen throughout the capital and police presence was heavy even long after most protesters went home by the 9 p.m. pandemic-related curfew 3/5

.@Reuters witnesses at Havana protests saw security forces, aided by suspected plainclothes officers, arrest about two dozen protesters. Police used pepper spray and hit some protesters 4/5

The economy contracted 10.9% last year, and 2% through June of 2021. The resulting cash crunch has spawned shortages that have forced Cubans to line up for hours for basic goods throughout the pandemic. More 👉 reut.rs/3yRv9KH 5/5