Cuban president, rebel, accuses embargo after protests

A rebel Cuban president denounced the US embargo against Cuba on Monday in response to rare protests across the country over lack of food, fuel, medicine and other goods during the pandemic.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel said that a “policy of economic suffocation” had a “cumulative effect” across Cuba.

He and officials from his government said US sanctions against Cuba contributed to power outages and limited access to food and medical supplies during the pandemic.

Speaking about the economic problems of Cuban society and the reasons why some are protesting, Díaz-Canel said: “What is their origin, what is their cause? It’s the blockade.

Díaz-Canel also denounced what he called the “Cuban Mafia” in Miami, referring to members of the Cuban-American community and lawmakers opposed to the Communist government.

Thousands of Cubans took to the streets across the country on Sunday, shouting slogans against the government such as “We want freedom” and “We are no longer afraid”.

The protests came at a time when Cuba faces the worst economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union, increased crackdown on political opponents and a strained healthcare system during a critical phase of the pandemic. Health officials have reported nearly 7,000 new cases and 47 deaths – a record of infections and deaths on the Caribbean island of just over 11 million people.

In Miami, hundreds of people gathered in the Little Havana neighborhood in solidarity with the growing protests in Cuba. “I know my family in Cuba is in trouble, people are dying. It’s terrible, ”Miami resident Christian Guzmán told NBC WTVJ.

“Right now it’s difficult. There is no food, there is no medicine. The Covid epidemic. The whole country is on the streets, ”said Darío Suárez.

Díaz-Canel appeared on national television earlier to call on the army to confront the demonstrators: “The order to fight has been given,” he said.

Díaz-Canel also called “all the revolutionaries of the country, all the communists, to take to the streets and to go to the places where these provocations are going to take place”.