Cuban leader attacks protests

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HAVANA – Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel offers for the first time a self-criticism while saying the government’s shortcomings in dealing with shortages and other issues have played a role in this week’s protests.

But in a televised address Wednesday evening, he also called on Cubans not to act with hatred – a reference to the violence that has occurred during some of the rare street protests in which protesters have expressed their grievances over the high prices, food shortages and power outages, while some people have also called for a change of government.

Until now, the Cuban government had only blamed social media and the US government for Sunday’s protests, which were the largest in Cuba in a quarter of a century, when then-President Fidel Castro came down. on the streets to calm thousands of people angry with severe shortages after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its economic subsidies for the island.

Diaz-Canel, however, said state failings played a role in the unrest.

“We need to gain experience of disruption,” he said. “We must also do a critical analysis of our problems to act and overcome, and avoid their repetition.”

During the protests, many Cubans expressed their anger at the long queues and shortages of food and medicine, as well as repeated power cuts. Some have called for a faster rate of vaccination against the coronavirus. But there were also calls for political change in a country ruled by the Communist Party for some six decades.

Police intervened and arrested dozens of protesters, sometimes violently, and the government accused protesters of looting and vandalizing shops. Smaller protests continued on Monday and authorities reported at least one death. No incidents were reported on Wednesday.

“Our society is not a society that generates hatred, and these people have acted with hatred,” said Diaz-Canel. “The feeling of the Cubans is a feeling of solidarity, and these people carried out these armed acts with vandalism … by screaming to death … by planning to loot public places, to smash, to steal, to throw stones. “

The authorities have not communicated the number of people arrested. Interior Ministry Colonel Moraima Bravet said only on Wednesday that most of them are between 25 and 37 years old and will be prosecuted for public disturbance, assault, contempt, theft and damage.

Cuba is suffering from its worst crisis in years because of a combination of the pandemic that crippled its economy, including the vital tourism industry, inefficiencies in the state-run economy and the tightening of US sanctions on the island. President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed more than 200 measures against the island in four years.

Diaz-Canel said this “complex situation” has been taken advantage of “by those who do not really want the Cuban revolution to develop or a civilized relationship with respect for the United States.”

Shortly before the president’s remarks, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero announced measures such as customs flexibility for Cuban citizens who go on trips abroad to collect toiletries, food and medicine, which are some of the hardest items to find in Cuba.

Marrero also said work was underway to improve the stability of the national electricity system and officials would seek to improve the supply of drugs, many of which are produced on the island but whose ingredients must be imported.

People use their cell phones where a prepaid public wifi connection works near the Malecon seawall in Havana, Cuba on Tuesday, July 14, 2021. The government responded to Sunday’s anti-government protests by shutting down the Internet and data services mobile by the state. exercise the monopoly of the telephone, thus effectively cutting off social media. (AP Photo / Eliana Aponte)

Police stand guard near the National Capitol in Havana, Cuba on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, days after the protests. Protesters on Sunday voiced grievances over commodity shortages, rising prices and power cuts, and some called for a change of government. (AP Photo / Eliana Aponte)

Men use a prepaid public wifi connection on their cell phones next to a popular park for connectivity, which costs money, in Havana, Cuba on Tuesday, July 14, 2021. The government responded to anti-government protests by Sunday by shutting down the Internet and mobile data services by the state-run telephone monopoly, effectively cutting off social media. (AP Photo / Eliana Aponte)

A special forces police truck is parked outside the National Capitol in Havana, Cuba on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, days after the protests. Protesters on Sunday voiced grievances over commodity shortages, rising prices and power cuts, and some called for a change of government. (AP Photo / Eliana Aponte)

Women make a video call using a prepaid public wifi connection near a popular park for connectivity in downtown Havana, Cuba on Tuesday, July 14, 2021, amid the covid pandemic -19. The government responded to Sunday’s anti-government protests by shutting down internet and mobile data services through the state-run telephone monopoly, cutting off social media. (AP Photo / Eliana Aponte)

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