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Demonstrations have come during the hardest phase of the Cuban coronavirus crisis.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Cuba to protest against the government the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis are causing frustration, with some protesters shouting “dictatorship” and “we want freedom”.
In a protest in San Antonio de los Banos on Sunday in a town of about 50,000 people from Havana, mostly young people shouted insults against President Miguel Diaz-Canel, according to videos posted online. “We’re not afraid,” some said.
“I was walking around the village trying to buy food and there were a lot of people, some with signs, protesting,” Claris Ramirez, a local neighbor, told Reuters by telephone.
“They are protesting the blackout, that there is no cure,” he added.
Thousands of people also gathered in downtown Havana and in some parts of the coast during a large police presence on the same day the protests took place in Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba.
Demonstrations happened to be going through the hardest phase of the Cuban coronavirus crisis and on the same day a new daily record of infections and deaths was reported.
Social outrage has led to long queues of food and severe drug shortages since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic, under sanctions by Cuba in the United States.
On Sunday evening, Diaz-Canel addressed the nation, accusing the U.S. of those responsible for the unrest. He warned that no more “provocations” would be allowed.
Havana journalist Ed Augustin said there was a large police presence in the capital. He said in a speech to the country that Diaz-Canel had called on the people who support the Cuban revolution to come out and defend it.
“These are the biggest protests in decades in Cuba,” Augustin told Al Jazeera.
Cuba remained relatively undamaged in the first months of the outbreak of the coronavirus, but infections have increased recently.
CUBA: Videos of rare social protests against the government in several cities have complained about the lack of gas, electricity and vaccine shortages.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel responds, calls it a provocation and calls on the supporters of the revolution to take to the streets.
– Gabriel Elizondo (@elizondogabriel) July 11, 2021
A new daily record of 6,923 cases was reported on Sunday, along with 47 additional deaths. “These are worrying numbers that are increasing every day,” said Francisco Duran, the epidemiology chief at the health ministry.
The country has developed own COVID-19 five vaccines and last month he said one of them, named Abdalla, show 92 percent efficiency.
They have been Cuban doctors and nurses crossing the capital in an effort to encourage shocks, we hope the inoculations will help increase the number of infections expected.
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