Thousands of Cubans protested a lack of food and medicine as the country undergoes a grave economic crisis aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic and US sanctions.
Demonstrators complained about a lack of freedom and the worsening economic situation during the rare protests, according to people who spoke to CNN and videos from multiple cities, including capital Havana. Many chanted for “freedom” and called for President Miguel Díaz-Canel to step down. Multiple protesters were arrested by police, who used tear gas to break up some demonstrations. In Havana, a CNN team witnessed demonstrators being forcibly arrested and thrown into the back of vans by police officers. There were also violent clashes, where protesters turned over a police car and threw rocks at officers. In a nationally televised address, President Díaz-Canel said US trade sanctions had created economic misery on the communist-run island. Díaz-Canel did not offer the protesters any concessions in his speech, but instead urged his supporters to physically confront them. “The order to combat has been given,” he said at the end of his appearance, “Revolutionaries need to be on the streets.” In the city of San Antonio de los Baños, just outside Havana province, hundreds of people defied a heavy police presence to air their complaints. One resident who did not wish to be identified told CNN that residents had been enduring power outages for a week and that had “detonated” the growing outrage. Social media platforms are being restricted in Cuba, according to internet monitor NetBlocks. NetBlocks tweeted on Monday that “Social media and messaging platforms restricted in #Cuba from Monday on state-run internet provider ETECSA; real-time network data corroborate reports of internet disruptions amid widening anti-government protests; incident ongoing #CubaSOS.” The NetBlocks website said its metrics showed that WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and some Telegram servers were being disrupted. Videos uploaded to social media showed how the spontaneous protest movement has gained momentum, with streams appearing of other protests in a handful of cities and towns across the island. In some of the videos, people shouted they “weren’t afraid” or that they wanted liberty or access to coronavirus vaccines.
