Record heat and power cuts of 12 hours or more a day led to scattered protests, vandalism and rare anti-Castro graffiti this summer, veteran human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said.
Authorities have responded by mobilising rapid deployment brigades of militant supporters to disperse pockets of protest with batons, he and other dissidents said.
"I have not seen such widespread discontent in four decades," said Mr Sanchez, head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights.
The ravages of hurricane Dennis, which killed 16 people and destroyed thousands of houses in its July 7-8 rampage through Cuba, further undermined trust in the government's ability to resolve crucial social problems, he said.
Is it too much to hope that Axis of El Vil founding member Fidel Castro will not succeed in dying peacefully in bed? Cosmic justice would seem to demand that Castro see his people storm his palace (and hopefully Danny Glover and Steven Spielberg will be there too).
I just don't have a feel for the stability of the regime. It has lasted an ungodly long time. But past performance is no guarantee of future earnings, as they say. So no predictions. Just fingers crossed.
