Status: 07/12/2021 6:46 p.m.
US President Biden has assured the demonstrators in Cuba that the US will support them: his government is on their side, he said. Russia warned against any “outside interference” in the communist country.
After the protests in Cuba, US President Joe Biden has expressed his support for the demonstrators. His government stands on the side of Cubans, who long for freedom and an end to “decades of oppression and economic suffering,” he said. “The United States is calling on the Cuban regime to listen to its people and address their needs at this crucial moment rather than enrich themselves.”
“The United States supports freedom of expression and assembly in Cuba and would strongly condemn any violence or crackdown on peaceful protesters who exercise their universal rights,” wrote Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Twitter.
For the first time in years there have been public protests in Cuba
Xenia Böttcher, ARD Mexico City, daily news 2 p.m., July 12, 2021
Moscow warns of international interference
Russia warned against any “outside interference” in the communist country. “We consider outside interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state or destructive acts that would promote the destabilization of the situation on the island to be unacceptable,” said a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel called for his country’s sovereignty to be respected. “If you want to defeat the revolution, you have to go over our corpses,” he had said in a televised address the evening before. The party newspaper “Granma” tweeted that the people took to the streets in defense of the revolution.
In Cuba, thousands of people across the country took to the streets against the government on Sunday. They protested against the electricity and food shortages in Cuba as a result of the worst economic crisis in 30 years.
Government sees USA behind the protests
President Díaz-Canel blamed US-controlled provocateurs and the US sanctions imposed on his country for the grievances. In a TV and radio address, he accused the US government of pursuing a “policy of suffocating the economy” in Cuba in order to provoke “social unrest” in the country.
The corona pandemic led to the collapse of tourism, one of the most important economic sectors on the Caribbean island. The tightened sanctions under the former US President Donald Trump are also making it increasingly difficult for Cubans in exile to send money to Cuba.