Marta and Jorge Perdomo stand in front of a sign on their home in San Jose de las Lajas, Cuba, on June 28, 2022.

In the city of San Jose de las Lajas, Marta Perdomo said her two sons Nadir and Jorge, both teachers, immediately joined protests as soon as news arrived of unrest elsewhere in the country.

"My sons went out because like every Cuban they were desperate over the situation," Marta Perdomo told CNN. "They are fathers. Every day here we have less. There was no medicine. It was a very sad moment with the pandemic. Children were dying and the elderly too."

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Anger boiled over for Cubans as shortages of food and medicine -- already a regular occurrence in Cuba -- became increasingly dire. After years of government neglect, the creaky power grids were breaking down more and more often. While Cuban officials have long blamed US sanctions for the island's woes, protestors on July 11 raged squarely against their own government for their worsening living conditions.

Marta and Jorge Perdomo stand in front of a sign on their home in San Jose de las Lajas, Cuba, on June 28, 2022.

In the city of San Jose de las Lajas, Marta Perdomo said her two sons Nadir and Jorge, both teachers, immediately joined protests as soon as news arrived of unrest elsewhere in the country.

"My sons went out because like every Cuban they were desperate over the situation," Marta Perdomo told CNN. "They are fathers. Every day here we have less. There was no medicine. It was a very sad moment with the pandemic. Children were dying and the elderly too."

*

Anger boiled over for Cubans as shortages of food and medicine -- already a regular occurrence in Cuba -- became increasingly dire. After years of government neglect, the creaky power grids were breaking down more and more often. While Cuban officials have long blamed US sanctions for the island's woes, protestors on July 11 raged squarely against their own government for their worsening living conditions.