After the protests that arose in different parts of Cuba against the government, President Miguel Díaz-Canel asked his supporters this Sunday to take to the streets ready for the “fight” against the popular mobilizations that clamored for “freedom”, the first in the country since August 5, 1994.
”The order of combat is given, to the streets the revolutionaries”, Affirmed the president in a special television appearance.
// The story of the Venezuelan who died twice: he received a bomb to the head, escaped from Chavismo and is now studying political science at the UBA
The popular mobilizations took place in different localities of the country, such as San Antonio de Los Baños, Güira de Melena and Alquízar in the province of Artemisa, in the east of the island; Palma Soriano, in eastern Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos and also in Havana.
The president was this Sunday in San Antonio de Los Baños, on the outskirts of the capital and the main focus of the protests. Upon his return to Havana, the president described the demonstrations as “provocations of the counterrevolutionn”.
The anti-government protests demanded “freedom” and proclaimed “down with the dictatorship!” when the country suffers from a severe economic and health crisis derived from the coronavirus pandemic.
The protests are the first to be recorded on the island since August 5, 1994, when hundreds of Cubans took to the streets of Havana to demand “freedom” in the midst of a serious economic and social crisis derived from the collapse of the USSR.
Then the protests caused an emergency situation that led to the call “rafters crisis”When some 40,000 Cubans left the country in precarious rafts for the United States.
“An annexationist plan”
“We are not going to allow anyone to defend an annexation plan,” warned Díaz-Canel, who succeeded Raúl Castro, younger brother of the late historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, who died in 2016.
And he added: “We will not give up sovereignty or freedom. We are willing to give our lives”.
// A prosecutor’s office faces the investigation into the alleged shipment of war material to Bolivia during the government of Cambiemos
Díaz-Canel acknowledged the difficult economic situation the island is experiencing, in his opinion aggravated by the tightening of the embargo and the economic sanctions applied by the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump “to provoke a massive social outbreak” in the country.
In addition, he denounced the existence of a “fierce media campaign” with the aim of “fracturing the unity between the Party (Communist, only authorized) and the people.”
The president also criticized the campaign promoted on social networks for several days in demand of humanitarian aid given the difficult health situation in various regions of the country, especially in the province of Matanzas, where the exclusive resort of Varadero is located, 140 kilometers away. from Havana.
Díaz-Canel described this citizen initiative as “cowardly, opportunistic and perverse”, which was joined by several international artists and was replicated on social networks.
“Those who have always been supporting the blockade (embargo according to Washington) and have served as lackeys are beginning to appear with doctrines of humanitarian intervention, of humanitarian corridor to strengthen the criterion that the Cuban government is not capable of solving,” he said.
// Living in hiding and away from the family: what is the daily life of a Haitian politician and businessman after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise
Cuban vaccines
In his message, Díaz-Canel also justified that Cuba did not have money to buy coronavirus vaccines in the international market and therefore decided to produce them.
”¡What a strange dictatorship!, which tries to seek well-being for everyone ”, he ironically commented on the immunization process underway in the country through clinical trials and health intervention studies.
Despite the start of the vaccination campaign, the island faces a peak in coronavirus infections.
