Cuba Sees Largest Anti-Govt Protests In Decades

The New York Times reports:

Shouting “Freedom” and other anti-government slogans, hundreds of Cubans took to the streets in cities around the country on Sunday to protest food and medicine shortages, in a remarkable eruption of discontent not seen in nearly 30 years. Hundreds of people marched through San Antonio de los Baños, southwest of Havana, with videos streaming live on Facebook for nearly an hour before they suddenly disappeared.

As the afternoon wore on, other videos appeared from demonstrations elsewhere, including Palma Soriano, in the country’s southeast. Hundreds of people also gathered in Havana, where a heavy police presence preceded their arrival. “The people are dying of hunger!” one woman shouted during a protest filmed in the province of Artemisa, in the island’s west. “Our children are dying of hunger!”

CNN reports:

In a nationally televised address, President Díaz-Canel said US trade sanctions had created economic misery on the communist-run island. Díaz-Canel did not offer the protesters any concessions in his speech.

“The order to combat has been given,” he said at the end of his appearance, “Revolutionaries need to be on the streets.” In the city of San Antonio de los Baños, just outside Havana province, hundreds of people defied a heavy police presence to air their complaints.

One resident who did not wish to be identified told CNN that residents had been enduring power outages for a week and that had “detonated” the growing outrage.

CBS News reports:



Hundreds held up Cuban and U.S. flags at the Versailles Restaurant in Miami’s Little Havana on Sunday afternoon, prompting Miami Police to close a major thoroughfare to vehicle traffic for several hours, “in support of a demonstration and to ensure the safety of all participants.”

The demonstrations in Miami drew an outpouring of support from local leaders, including the Miami-Dade Mayor, Senator Marco Rubio, and congressional representatives from several districts.

The collective Florida Democrats account belittled the Cuban government as “nothing more than a failed tyranny,” while expressing support for the anti-government protesters: “We stand with the Cuban people as they raise their voices in protest of a repressive government that refuses to help its people.”