Cubans Wrestle Against a Dictatorship Government

Contributed By Dr. Elber O. Borrego  Almaguer

First Published: 12th of July, 2021

Shouting “freedom”, “down with the dictatorship” and “homeland and life,” thousands of Cubans took to the streets this Sunday (11th of July) in various provinces of the country in the largest protest to have occurred on the island in the last 62 years.

According to a protester from El Cerro in Havana Cuba to SpotLight Newsroom, the initial protest was organized on Saturday through Social Media.

Many Cubans broadcast live on social media the marches that began in the city of San Antonio de los Baños, southwest of Havana, and then spread to others, from Santiago de Cuba, in the east, to Pinar del Río in the West – a mass protest that summoned thousands of people.

In the broadcasts, a large group of people were seen shouting slogans against the government, against the president Miguel Díaz-Canel and calling for changes.

In Havana, the capital of the country, the protesters took some of the main avenues at the same time that they clashed or were repressed by the police. Some protesters overturned and destroyed police cars according to images from the protests in Havana.

In addition, the president, Díaz-Canel, called on government supporters to take to the streets to “confront” the protests, and several videos on social media and photographs showed soldiers and civilian-clad officers beating the protesters.

He said in a televised broadcast that his government was “ready for anything and we will be on the street fighting.” The demonstrations take place at the worst moment of the pandemic in the country with reports of collapsed health centers and after months of shortages of food, medicine, and practically all basic necessities.

Hundreds of Cubans also protested in Miami USA, Paraguay, Chile, Ecuador, and also here in Guyana a group of Cuban Nationals protested in front of the Cuban Embassy in Georgetown.