“Down with the dictatorship! »: Thousands of Cubans took to the streets to protest against the regime against the backdrop of a serious health situation

Thousands of Cubans took to the streets this Sunday to protest against Castro’s dictatorship in the town of San Antonio de los Baños (Artemisa, west) shouting “Down with the dictatorship! “,” Liberty “and” Fatherland and life “.

The unprecedented protest, which at present continues to add more people, was broadcast live by Facebook users and takes place in the midst of an economic and health crisis in the Caribbean country, where there is a worrying lack of food, medicine and other basic items.

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The show lasted about 50 minutes and was suddenly cut short. In the footage, several demonstrators can be heard saying that people “are tired”, while several regime security agents watch the demonstration.

The 14ymedio portal reported that the authorities cut the internet connection in San Antonio de los Baños, to prevent protesters from continuing to broadcast what happened. “There is no access to anything, but people discovered it very quickly and at the moment they are trying to get to the site of the demonstration,” said a resident at the outlet.

“Here, we have suffered a lot, not only from the confinement but also from the power cuts, almost every day they cut the electricity. The police have real harassment on salespeople and there is hardly any way to make a living. It was a time bomb a long time ago, ”added Carmen, a retired downtown San Antonio resident.

“People started screaming, there are horrible blackouts, six hours it doesn’t stop, and it’s everyday. They began to walk, very peaceful, they only screamed. There were a lot of young people, ”he told the agency by phone. EFE a local neighbor who was inside a store at the time of the events.

Videos from other places started circulating on social media, such as the eastern city of Palma Soriano (Santiago de Cuba), where hundreds of people also rallied in the streets and slogans such as “No more lies” and “we are not afraid”.

The human rights activist Rosa Maria Paya sent a direct message in their social networks to Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel: “Don’t you dare to repress. The whole world is watching.

This is the largest anti-government demonstration recorded on the island since the so-called “maleconazo”, when in August 1994, in the middle of the “special period”, hundreds of people took to the streets of La Havana and did not leave before his arrival, the Cuban dictator of the time Fidel Castro.

Although in recent times there have been constant protests against the regime, in recent days the trend has increased at a time when the island is going through the worst time since the start of the pandemic. The province of Matanzas (east of Havana), for example, was on the brink of health collapse due to the uncontrolled increase in covid-19 cases, with more than 1,300 per 100,000 inhabitants, a situation made worse by the shortage of medicines, food and hygiene products.

Health professionals for their part denounce the negligence of the regime and the precarious conditions of the health system. “The situation is only getting worse with the days”, said Infobae neurosurgeon Alexandre pupo, one of the most prominent critics of the island’s healthcare system. “In Cuba, the covid really affects with other epidemics, like scabies, and famine, which is criminal”, he pretends.

Faced with this situation, dissidents and international stars are asking the Cuban regime to authorize the entry of humanitarian aid.

Daddy Yankee, Residente and Kany García joined this Saturday at the request of other Puerto Rican artists for a humanitarian corridor to send aid to Cuba, while the diet refuses to accept international aid.

Papa Yankee, self-proclaimed “The Boss” of reggaeton, and Garcia, one of the island’s main singer-songwriters and internationally renowned, Tweeted the hashtag #SOSCuba to raise money, medical supplies, food and other supplies and send them to the affected locations.

The label #SOSCuba is already a trend on Twitter, which has been used in over 300,000 messages, and #SOSMatanzas about 146,000, according to data from the microblogging network.

Cubans took the opportunity to criticize the government for the food shortage, precarious conditions in hospitals and the crisis that has worsened with the pandemic.

With information from EFE and 14ymedio

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