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Black Lives Matter came under heavy criticism on Wednesday night after issuing a statement that lambasted the United States and praised the Cuban government as the island was destabilized by historic protests and violent crackdowns.
The tweet blamed the US embargo for the country’s instability and credited the Cuban government with historically granting asylum to “black revolutionaries.”
Senator Marco Rubio, R-Florida, was quick to berate the tweet.
The extortion ring known as the Black Lives Matter organization took a hiatus today after rocking companies for millions and buying mansions to share their support for the Communist regime in #Cuba “Rubio tweeted.
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The BLM’s tweet was sent around the time Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel admitted in a televised address that his government’s failures had played a role in protests over food shortages and other issues. He had previously called on “revolutionaries” to counter anti-government demonstrators.
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The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. tweet echoed Díaz-Canel’s early statements blaming the US embargo for the economic devastation of the country. Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis in decades and is also facing a resurgence of coronavirus cases.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday denied allegations that the United States was to blame. He said Cuba faces a long list of problems. He said Cubans are tired of living in a poorly managed economy.
“This is what we hear and see in Cuba, and it is a reflection of the Cuban people, not the United States or any other outside actor,” he said.
The BLM tweet called on the United States to lift the sanctions which are “a cruel and inhumane policy, instituted with the explicit intention of destabilizing the country and undermining the right of Cubans to choose their own government, is at the heart of the current crisis in Cuba “.
Cuba is “punished by the US government because the country has maintained its commitment to sovereignty and self-determination,” the statement said. The group said Cuba was an ally of “oppressed peoples of African descent” and praised the country’s efforts to protect “black revolutionaries like Assata Shakur”.
(Shakur, also known as JoAnne Chesimard, was convicted of being an accomplice in the 1973 murder Werner Foerster, New Jersey State Soldier, who left behind a wife and a 3-year-old son. Shakur then escaped prison and fled to Cuba, where former Cuban leader Fidel Castro granted him asylum.)
The BLM tweet highlights the tense political climate in the United States regarding Cuba. Many Republicans and Democrats strongly supported the anti-government protesters.
Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the son of a Cuban immigrant, took to Twitter on Sunday to support the thousands of demonstrators. He posted a video showing dozens of them outside the Communist Party headquarters and said the current regime would be “thrown in the dustbin of history.”
“It brutalized and denied freedom to generations of Cubans, and forced my family and so many others to flee,” he tweeted. “The American people stand firmly with the men and women of Cuba and their noble struggle for freedom.”
President Biden also called the protests “historic” and a “bugle call,” but critics say the White House did not go far enough to support the protesters.
The progressive wing of the Democratic Party – many of which align with the BLM when it comes to politics – seems unsure of how to respond to the protests, subsequent violent crackdowns and internet blackouts.
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BLM’s tweet was circulated widely on social media. The group did not immediately respond to an email from Fox News shortly after a Politico reporter released the statement.
Giancarlo Sopo, a communications strategist who previously worked on former President Trump’s re-election campaign, called the tweet “disgusting.”
“Despite the Cuban dictatorship’s killing and beating of protesters (many of whom are black), BLM’s statement on Cuba … condemns the United States, praises the Castro regime and makes no mention of the atrocities committed by the dictatorship, ”he tweeted.
Joe Walsh, the former Illinois Republican, called the statement “much worse than embarrassing.” Hillel C. Neuer, the Canadian-born international lawyer, tweeted: “@Blklivesmatter just sided with the oppressors.”
The true extent of the crackdown in the country is unclear due to reports of Internet access blockages. The New York Times, citing Amnesty International, reported Tuesday that at least 150 people have been arrested. There have been other reports that some protesters were missing.
Last month, for the 29th year, the United Nations General Assembly voted against the six-decade embargo, according to the New York Times. Rodney Hunter, the political coordinator of the US mission to the UN, has reportedly said the US supports the Cuban people.
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“Sanctions are a set of tools in our broader effort towards Cuba to advance democracy, promote respect for human rights and help the Cuban people exercise the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ‘man,’ he said, according to the newspaper.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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