US to take action after massive protests in Cuba: examines possibility of re-authorizing remittances and expanding diplomatic presence

Amid growing protests in Cuba, US government assesses increase in staff at its embassy on the island and revises remittance policy as a way to support the Cuban people in their democratic “legitimate aspirations”announced this Tuesday Ned Prize, spokesperson for the State Department.

“We are reviewing our plans to increase the staff at our Embassy in Havana to facilitate consular activities“, He underlined during a press conference. And I add: “We will form a Remittances Task Force to identify the most effective ways to get remittances directly into the hands of the Cuban people.”

“If we want to do everything possible to support the aspirations of the Cuban people, we must have a presence on the ground,” he added, noting that the objective is to facilitate consular procedures but also to improve the diplomatic activity and engagement with civil society.

The ex-president Donald Trump banned sending funds in November last year in Cuba, a measure with which the United States the island’s economic drowning has increased rapidly and which Biden occupied during his first six months in office.

Likewise, Price pointed out that The United States is working with the private sector and Congress to find ways to make the Internet more affordable for the Cuban people. In this sense, he called on the Castro regime to restore full access to the Internet and telecommunications, which were blocked during the protests.

Cuban people “He is fed up” and recent protests in this country signal the “beginning” of a change that could lead to the end of the dictatorship, US lawmakers said Tuesday during a congressional hearing.

During the hearing of the Western Hemisphere, Civil Security, Migration and International Economic Policy sub-committee of the Lower House, two activists expressed their disagreement on whether the US embargo and the sanctions against Cuban officials should be lifted.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the commission, the legislator Albio Sires, underlined the fact that “thousands of Cubans” “took to the streets to demand freedom and democracy” during the demonstrations that began on July 11. “What we have seen is nothing less than a start”said Sires, a Democrat from New Jersey.

“The people who joined the protests risked their lives and we must not forget how powerful this is,” added Sires, who, at age 11, emigrated from Cuba with his family.

For his part, the representative Brand Green, a Republican from Tennessee, said “Cubans are sick and tired of oppression and have taken to the streets to demand an end to communism.”

“Sentiment against the regime has grown in the country and the protests show a revival of civil society,” he added. “A new generation is emerging that wants to live in freedom. You see the light at the end of the tunnel and the Cuban people have never been so close. “

Sires and Green claimed that the Cuban dictatorship uses technology provided by the Chinese regime to interfere with or hinder communications and citizens’ access to the Internet and social networks.

José Miguel Vivanco, director for the Americas at Human Rights Watch, told the hearing that since July 11 “Thousands of Cubans took to the streets across the country and the government responded with brutal repression.”

“Human rights groups are realizing that some 500 people were arrestedHe added. “Reports mention beatings by the police, multiple arrests of activists, many people held incommunicado and others whose fate is unknown ”.

“Cuba is in the process of changing (…) The government of (President Joe) Biden should take measures to abandon the embargo and the policy of isolation which has failed to improve the Cuban situation,” said said Vivanco.

The unilateral embargo that the United States has maintained against Cuba since 1960 “It gave the Cuban regime an excuse for its mistakes and abuses, and it won international sympathy.”

The director of Cuba Decide disagreed, Rosa Maria Paya, who He called on the US government not to reverse the brutal policy against the island. “The lifting of the (US) sanctions would be a mistake … The United States should take steps to break the regime’s control over communications.”

“The United States should call on the European Union and the Organization of American States to take similar action, and should use all tools to deal with the threat posed by the regime., said the activist.

The Cuban regime, he added, “Should be excluded from the Summit of the Americas” planned for this year “and all options must be considered within the framework of international law”.

(With information from Reuters and EFE)

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