Protests in Cuba: Miguel Díaz Canel denounces US interference in social unrest | “These are actions of political destabilization,” the president said of Sunday’s unprecedented protests.

The president of Cuba, Miguel Diaz Canel, denounced that in the Unprecedented demonstrations this Sunday against the government, there was an intrusion of United States with the intention of “legitimize the idea that the Cuban government cannot control the coronavirus“The Head of State spoke after the march of thousands of people in different cities of the island who criticized, in particular, the actions of the Executive in the health management of the pandemic.

“These are actions of political destabilization historical events unfolding against Cuba and which intensified especially during the pandemic, ”declared Díaz Canel after visiting San Antonio de los Baños, a city near Havana and one of the epicenters of the mobilizations.

“In a very subtle way, those who never opposed the blockade (the economic embargo decreed by the United States in 1962) They have encouraged campaigns that seek to legitimize the idea that the Cuban government cannot control the coronavirus“said Diaz Canel.”We call on all revolutionaries to take to the streets to defend the revolution everywhere, “said the president in a televised message.

Events and vaccinations

This Sunday, thousands of people marched through the streets of different cities in Cuba. Social unrest focused on the health problem due to the coronavirus pandemic. The first march was recorded in San Antonio de los Baños, a rural town of 34,000 inhabitants belonging to the province of Artemisa. It is best known because the International School of Cinema and Television, created in 1986 at the instigation of the Foundation for New Latin American Cinema, chaired at the time by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, operates in surroundings.

The protests have been replicated in other places in Cuba such as Güira de Melena and Alquízar in the western province of Artemisa, Palma Soriano in eastern Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos and Havana.. Although with less influx, there were also mobilizations in Cuban embassies in Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

It is the first time that a large group of Cubans have taken to the streets of Havana to protest against the government since the famous “Maleconazo” of 1994, during the presidency of Fidel Castro. The leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Juan GuaidoHe did not want to miss the opportunity to express his support for the protesters. “From Venezuela, we reiterate our support for the entire pro-democracy movement in Cuba. We are united in the fight to see ourselves free and democratic, ”Guaidó wrote on his Twitter account.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, Cubans have been forced to queue to stock up on food and medicine, generating growing social unrest. The protest took place on a day when Cuba again broke its daily record for infections and deaths from covid-19, with 6,923 and 47 in the last 24 hours, respectively. These figures lead to a cumulative total, since the start of the pandemic, of 238,491 infected and 1,537 deaths, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

“These are alarming figures, which are increasing day by day”, said the head of the epidemiology of this portfolio, Francisco Duran, reporting the latest statistics at a press conference. Despite the increase in cases, the Cuban government is banking on the vaccination process to calm the epidemiological situation.

A few days ago, we knew that one of the vaccines developed by Cuba against the coronavirus, Sovereign 02, reached an efficacy of 91.2% with the application of its three doses. In addition to this vaccine, Cuban scientists have also successfully developed Abdala, another anti-covid vaccine created by the Caribbean country.