Hundreds of people have reportedly taken to the streets in eastern Cuba against the authoritarian government. They marched in front of the Communist Party headquarters in the city of Caimanera today, chanting “Freedom, Freedom”, as seen in videos posted on social networks. According to a report by the government-critical news portal 14ymedio, special forces from the Interior Ministry took action against the demonstrators.
“We demand that citizens’ right to protest peacefully be respected. We demand from the Communist Party the political, economic and social changes that the country needs. Repression cannot be the answer to the current desperate situation,” said the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights.
Rare public protests
The organization Netblocks, which is known for observing Internet blocks, announced that the Internet connections in Cuba have been almost completely cut off in the meantime. “President Miguel Diaz-Canel’s violent security forces are doing the only thing they can: oppress the people and violate human rights,” Amnesty International’s regional director, Erika Guevara Rosas, tweeted in a video showing how Demonstrators are led away by police officers.
Public protests against the communist government are rare on the socialist Caribbean island. After mass demonstrations in Cuba on July 11, 2021, hundreds of participants were sentenced to long prison terms.
