On Sunday, the largest anti-government protests in at least twenty-seven years broke out in Cuba. Thousands of people marched in the streets chanting slogans. Others overturned police cars or looted stores.

It’s far too early to make definitive pronouncements about the political character of these protests. Quite likely, the people in the streets represent a mixture of factions with very different complaints and long-term agendas.

One thing that is clear is that shortages in food, medicine, electricity, and other basic goods were the immediate spark for the protests. (The stores that have been looted are controversial because they sell expensive products to foreigners who can pay in currency that most Cubans don’t possess.) American politicians who long to topple the Cuban government have been pointing to these conditions as they call for intervention.