HAVANA ,Jul 13,2021: Cuba blamed historic protests that took place over the weekend on U.S. “economic asphyxiation” and detained some of the highest profile activists, while the Biden administration said it supported the Cuban people’s right to demonstrate.
The streets of Havana were quiet on Monday, although there was a heavy police presence and the capitol building, where more than a thousand had congregated the day before, was cordoned off. Outages in mobile internet – the only way many Cubans have of accessing the web – were frequent.
Thousands of Cubans joined street protests from Havana to Santiago on Sunday in the biggest anti-government demonstrations on the Communist-run island in decades. They were protesting against the country’s dire economic crisis and handling of the pandemic, but many went further, calling for an end to communism and chanting “freedom.”
At least 100 protesters, activists, and independent journalists had been detained nationwide since Sunday, according to exiled rights group Cubalex – some at the protests but others as they tried to leave their homes.
“It’s becoming impossible to live here,” said Havana resident Maykel, 21, who declined to give his surname for fear of retaliation. “I don’t know if this can happen again, because at the moment, Havana is militarized.”
“Still, Cubans are losing their fear,” he said.
Others Reuters spoke to said they hoped there would be no more protests, citing fears of violence, and saying they would prefer there to be more dialogue.
The protests erupted amid both Cuba’s deepest economic crisis since the fall of former ally the Soviet Union and a surge in COVID-19 infections that has pushed some hospitals to the edge of collapse in a country that prides itself on its healthcare system.
The tightening of decades-old U.S. sanctions under former U.S. President Donald Trump and the pandemic have exacerbated shortages of food and medicine, as well as power outages.
A minority of counter-revolutionaries were fomenting unrest, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a more than four-hour-long televised address alongside his Cabinet. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez blamed U.S.-financed mercenaries.
In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden said the United States stood with the people of Cuba who were “bravely” asserting their right to peaceful protest, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Cuban officials should not blame the protests on U.S. sanctions.
