Thousand Cubans march the biggest protest for decades as pandemic adds to woes

Cuba protestors shout, “no food, no medicine, no freedom”. With that said, Cubans have been angered by the collapse of the economy, food and medicine shortages, price hikes, and communist rule.

With thousands of anti-government protestors shouting, “We are not afraid. We want change, we do not want any more dictatorship”, security forces (civil dressed) arrested them, beat and pepper-spraying protestors.

Reports also revealed an internet blackout across the island, and the photographer with the associated press was injured after a confrontation with security police(s).

In response to the rare unrest, President Miguel Díaz- Canel blamed the US for the turmoil on the TV broadcast handset that the protestors were mercenaries hired by the US to destabilize the country and create ” a policy of economic suffocation”. 

Many broadcasts on social networks and posts show that marchers were shouting, overturning police cars, and looting state-owned shops to present their hostility against the government and the President.

The growing anger of the protestors has spread across the streets. With millions of Cubans now with mobile internet on their phones, the live streaming footage on social media sites making difficult for the government to hide evidence of the discontent.

The demonstration that started in the city of Antonio de Los Baños has now spread throughout the country, as shown in the videos uploaded by the Cuban foreign minister showing government loyalists marching and shouting, “These streets belong to Fidel (Castro, the late Cuban revolutionary leader).

As a result of the protest, Cuba’s economy is struggling. Traveling one of the vital sectors has been devastated by the restriction on travel during the covid-19. Cuba’s sugar monopoly faced a shortfall due to several factors such as lack of fuel, breakdown of machinery (making harvesting difficult), and other natural elements such as humidity in the fields.

The government states that foreign currency reserves are depleted, which means they cannot buy imported food and goods to supplement the shortage.

A combination of sanctions, inefficiencies, and the pandemic has shut down revenue flow in a country. The resulting cash crunch has spawned shortages that have forced Cubans to queue for hours for good basic food throughout the pandemic. 

With the emergence of the Delta strain, the number of cases has increased. With health officials reporting over 6,000, and hospitals in the worst-affected regions have been inundated.