Cubans take to the streets to protest.a
Thousands of Cubans took to the streets in protest of the Corona virus.
Thousands of Cubans took to the streets on Sunday to protest a lack of food and medicine as the country undergoes a grave economic crisis aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic and US sanctions.
Demonstrators complained about a lack of freedom and the worsening economic situation during the rare protests, according to people who spoke to CNN and videos from multiple cities, including capital Havana.
Many chanted for “freedom” and called for President Miguel Díaz-Canel to step down, Reuters reported.
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.
Videos uploaded to social media appeared to show other protests in a handful of cities and towns across the island.
In some of the videos, people shouted they “weren’t afraid” or that they wanted liberty or access to coronavirus vaccines.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan tweeted support for the Cuban people Sunday night saying, “the U.S. supports freedom of expression and assembly across Cuba, and would strongly condemn any violence or targeting of peaceful protesters who are exercising their universal rights.”
Other US officials also urged for restraint, saying Cubans had the right to protest.
“We are deeply concerned by “calls to combat” in #Cuba. We stand by the Cuban people’s right for peaceful assembly. We call for calm and condemn any violence,” Julie Chung, acting assistant secretary for the Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, tweeted Sunday.
