Cuba blames unrest on US sanctions and social media campaigns

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Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Monday blamed US sanctions, which have been tightened in recent years, for drug shortages, power cuts and other economic problems that fueled unusual protests over the weekend. Appearing alongside his cabinet in a televised address, he also blamed a social media campaign for arming shortages against what he called the Communist-led Cuban revolution.

Diaz-Canel on Sunday denounced vandalism in various cities during the biggest anti-government protests in Cuba in decades. “They threw stones at foreign exchange stores, they stole objects (…) and against the police force, they turned over cars – completely vulgar, indecent and delinquent behavior,” he said. he declares.

The protests https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/street-protests-break-out-cuba-2021-07-11 erupted amid Cuba’s worst economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union , its former ally, and a record increase in coronavirus infections. The government attributes the crisis to US sanctions and the pandemic, while critics cite incompetence and a Soviet-style one-party system.

President Joe Biden said on Monday that the United States stands with the Cuban people in their call for freedom and relief from the coronavirus pandemic and decades of repression. “The Cuban people courageously claim their fundamental and universal rights. These rights, including the right to demonstrate peacefully and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected,” Biden said.

“The United States calls on the Cuban regime to listen to its people and meet their needs at this vital time rather than enrich themselves.

(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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