The United States urged Cuba to allow internet access to its citizens

The United States on Tuesday urged Cuba to to end Internet restrictions imposed after anti-government protests unprecedented and renewed a call to the release of the detained demonstrators.

“We call on Cuban leaders to show restraint (and) respect for the voice of the people by opening up all means of communication, digital and non-digital.“, said at a press conference the spokesman of the State Department, Ned Prize.

“To close access to technology, to close the channels of information, that in no way responds to the legitimate needs and aspirations of the Cuban people,” he added. “We congratulate the Cuban people for showing great courage“Price said, adding that Havana responded by trying to”silence their voices”.

“We call for calm and condemn all violence against those who demonstrate peacefully. And we also call on the Cuban government to release any detainee for demonstrating peacefully“, He said.

For her part, Julie Chung, Acting Under Secretary for North America for Western Hemisphere Affairs, told Cuba that the world is watching them arrest and beat up peaceful protesters and independent voices, including influencer Dina Stars.

“Many are still missing; we join their families and demand their immediate release. The crackdown must end and the voice of the people must be heard, ”Chung wrote on his Twitter account.

“Today we think of the Cubans who have never spoken: courage, patriotism and pride shine in their struggle for dignity and freedom after 62 years of authoritarian rule. We condemn the government’s violent crackdown on protesters, journalists and activistsAdded the Acting US Under Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Cuba woke up yesterday in tense calm, without mobile internet service and with a strong police presence in the streets of Havana a day later Thousands of Cubans took to the streets to protest against the government amid an acute economic and health crisis.

Data blackout makes it difficult to know for sure what is happening across the island, but until 3:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. GMT), no image new events.

Cuban-American congressmen and exiled leaders on Tuesday called on the US president, Joe Biden, that what is necessary is done to restore the Internet to the Cuban people who protest in the streets to demand freedom and not to negotiate with the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel.

These two requests stem from a meeting held at the Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in Miami, in the presence of the Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, and the lieutenant governor Jeanette Nuñez.

Republican deputy Married Elvire Salazar He said Republicans and Democrats should stand together and speak to a “single voice“To help the Cuban people achieve their freedom, as exiled leader Silvia Iriondo urged Biden to take concrete action now to support Cubans.

The senator assured that there would be no military intervention

Democratic Senator Bob menendez, who chairs the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, made it clear on Tuesday that there would be no military intervention in Cuba. Menéndez, of Cuban origin, is one of the most influential senators in foreign policy and maintains a direct line with US President Joe Biden, with whom he spoke in recent hours of the massive anti-government protests on the island on Sunday.

“We are not going to have military intervention in CubaMenéndez said bluntly in statements to the press in the corridors of Congress. The senator clarified that this option was not on the table and argued that even the most “anti-communist” administrations like those of Ronald Regan (1981-1989), George W. Bush (2001-2009) or Donald Trump (2017-2021)) considered it.

“Nobody thought about it, so let’s put it aside“, Affirmed Menéndez, who stressed that they are the”faithful“On the island, those who want to promote this fear.

The origin of the protests

These issues are summarized in Economic precariousness, extreme shortages and the coronavirus pandemic at its worst in Cuba.

The population suffers for a long time power cuts and it is increasingly difficult to find basic necessities, food and medicine, the sale of which is also concentrated in foreign currency shops to which most Cubans do not have access, which charge their salaries in national currency.

The Cuban ruler’s accusations received a swift response from the US Secretary of State, Antoine Blink, who crossed out “big mistake“Accuse his country of being at the origin of the demonstrations, which he defined as the” reflection “of a people”deeply tired“And” the mismanagement and repression “of the Cuban authorities.

“Freedom”, “Down with Dictatorship”, “Down with Communism”, “Homeland and Life”, “No More Lies”, “Get Out of the MLC Stores” or “Let Them Go” were among the most repeated slogans of this unprecedented day, during which there were clashes between the demonstrators and the brigades of government defenders who, shouting “I am Fidel”, arrived aboard the buses towards the points hot demonstrations.

The anti-government protests that took place the day before in various parts of Cuba are the strongest that have taken place on the island since the so-called “maleconazo” August 1994, when hundreds of people took to Havana’s famous waterfront amid the hardships of the so-called “special period”.

(With information from AFP and EFE)

Read on: