Cubans take to the streets in a rare day of protest against the lack of freedom and the worsening economic situation

(CNN) – Thousands of Cubans took to the streets in bizarre protests on Sunday to complain about the lack of freedom and the worsening economic situation, according to protesters who spoke to CNN, as well as evidenced in videos that appeared to show protests in various cities across the country. .

In the city of San Antonio de los Baños, on the outskirts of Havana province, hundreds of people braved a heavy police presence to air their complaints.

A resident who did not want to be identified told CNN that residents have been enduring power outages for a week and that had “triggered” the growing outrage.

Videos uploaded to social media appeared to show other protests in a handful of cities and towns on the island.

In some of the videos, people were shouting that they were “not afraid” or that they wanted freedom or access to coronavirus vaccines.

The already struggling Cuban economy has been hit hard as tourism and merchandise imports have dropped sharply during the pandemic. On Sunday, Cuban health officials reported a record single-day increase in new COVID-19 cases and deaths.