The Biden administration lent rhetorical support to thousands of Cuban protesters who assembled Sunday for a historic show of displeasure with the communist regime while rejecting President Miguel Diaz-Canel’s portrayal of the unrest as an American operation.
“It would be a grievous mistake for the Cuban regime to interpret what is happening in dozens of towns and cities across the island as the result or product of anything the United States has done,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Monday.
Thousands of Cuban protesters emerged Sunday, gathering in the capital city of Havana to demand Diaz-Canel step down. The communist chief, who completed a two-step process of joining Fidel and Raul Castro’s fraternity of Cuban dictators earlier this year, denounced the protesters as “mercenaries” and called on supporters to “defend the revolution” — an ominous message in conjunction with an apparent decision to cut internet access on the island.
“The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights,” Biden said in a Monday afternoon statement. “Those rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected. The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves.”
LAWMAKERS VOICE SUPPORT FOR CUBANS DEMANDING FREEDOM FROM COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT
Cuban protesters and witnesses described the protests as a denunciation of the regime, which is blamed for food and medicine shortages and other restrictions.
“We are going through really difficult times,” Miranda Lazara, a dance teacher, told Reuters. ”We need a change of system.”
Cuba’s tourism sector suffered the typical blow from the coronavirus pandemic after then-President Donald Trump tightened sanctions on the regime to starve Cuban military and intelligence services of resources. Cuban officials also refused to participate in the international COVAX initiative, opting to develop their own vaccines amid a major economic crisis.
“In many ways, this is similar to what we lived after the collapse of the Soviet Union,” Cuban economist Pavel Vidal told NPR in March. “So we are trying to develop sophisticated vaccines, but people don’t have painkillers. That’s the paradox.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Cuban officials have portrayed the protests as a U.S-instigated uprising, but Blinken advised the regime not to miss the point.
“It would be a grievous mistake because it would show that they simply are not hearing the voices and will of the Cuban people — people deeply, deeply, deeply tired of the repression that has gone on for far too long, tired of the mismanagement of the Cuban economy, tired of the lack of adequate food, and of course, inadequate response to the COVID pandemic,” he said.
