HAVANA — Thousands of Cubans marched on Havana’s Malecon promenade and throughout the island on Sunday to protest food shortages and high prices caused by the coronavirus outbreak, in one of the country’s largest anti-government protests in recent memory.
Protesters yelled “Freedom,” “Enough,” and “Unite” as police trailed behind. A U.S. flag was taken out by one biker, but it was grabbed away by others.
As a result of US sanctions imposed by the Trump administration, Cuba is experiencing its greatest economic crisis in decades, as well as a return of coronavirus infections.
The Biden administration’s official Twitter account expressed support for the protesters on Sunday.
“US State Department and its personnel, invested to their necks in fostering social and political instability in #Cuba, should stop showing hypocritical concern for a scenario they have been banking on,” Cuba’s director-general for US affairs, Carlos F. de Cossio, said in a tweet. In contrast to the United States, Cuba is and will remain a peaceful country.”
Despite the fact that many individuals attempted to use their cellphones to live-stream the demonstration, Cuban authorities cut off internet connectivity for the whole day.
At least 20 people were carried away in police cars or by individuals dressed in civilian clothing, according to AP journalists.
While standing on a street corner in Centro Habana, Rev. Jorge Luis Gil, a Roman Catholic priest, remarked, “The people came out to express themselves freely, and they are suppressing and beating them.”
Demonstrations were also conducted elsewhere on the island, notably in the small hamlet of San Antonio de Los Banos, where residents protested power shortages and President Miguel Daz-Canel paid them a visit. He went into a couple of homes and asked them questions.
However, afterward, he accused Cuban of inciting a ruckus.