What’s happening in Cuba? From the US embargo to food shortages, here’s what you should know
Anti-government protests have erupted across Cuba over the past few days. They have been reported to have begun over the weekend in both Palma Soriano, a city in the east of the island, and in the western town of San Antonio de los Baños. News spread quickly and the numbers grew. The demonstrations are some of the country’s biggest anti-government sentiments seen in nearly three decades. The last major recorded rally of this magnitude was in 1994.
Cubans began to then hit the streets of Havana, Santiago and other major cities to challenge the country’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel—with many calling for his resignation. Díaz-Canel was first appointed as President in 2018 and recently took over Raúl Castro’s role as first secretary of the Communist Party. Raúl Castro, Fidel Castro’s brother, announced that he would be stepping down as the Communist Party leader in April of this year. This marked the end of Castro leadership in the country, which began in 1959. That’s 62 years.
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Protesters took to the streets in what began as peaceful marches shouting “freedom,” “enough” and “unite.” Things went south as soon as the Cuban government responded, as it is thought that “at least 100 protesters, activists and independent journalists have been detained since Sunday,” Reuters reported. According to the news organisation, the United Nations (UN) has since been closely monitoring the demonstrations as it calls the Cuban government to respect the rights of peaceful protest and freedom of speech of its citizens. But let’s rewind a bit—what are the motivations behind the protests?
The BBC reported that the three main drivers behind these protests appear to be the COVID-19 crisis, the crumbling economic situation (which has led to food and medical shortages), and the county’s newly introduced access to the internet. Let’s break these down:
The COVID-19 crisis
One of the major contributing factors to the unrest that Cuba is facing is the coronavirus pandemic. The island has seen a huge rise in infection rates in recent weeks in comparison to much lower numbers throughout 2020. While the country has reported a current number of 6,750 cases and 31 deaths so far, demonstrators and opposition groups argue that these figures are a gross underestimate of the true statistics.
Food shortages
The effect of the pandemic has crippled Cuba’s tourism—the most important foreign income for the country. The economic disaster has led to reports of huge food and medical shortages across the country. The New York Times reports that “Cubans lucky enough to have foreign currency [USD in particular] wait in line for hours for staples like beans and rice.” Many of these people are still unsuccessful, often leaving supermarkets empty handed. Thousands are going hungry. In a video uploaded to Twitter, an elderly Cuban woman Sara Naranjo said, “I took to the streets because I’m tired of being hungry. I don’t have water, I don’t have anything. You get bored, you get tired, we are going crazy.”
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Internet access
The country’s recent access to the internet and social media platforms has been heralded as a tool that has united the protesters. Looking back on Cuba’s last big demonstration in 1994, the majority of the Cuban population were unaware it had even happened due to a lack of online communication. Now things have changed. The initial gathering that sparked the following protests in San Antonio de los Baños was broadcast on Facebook live. From there, news quickly spread.
Internet access on mobile phones is somewhat new for Cubans as it was first introduced in December 2018 under the presidency of Raúl Castro. Much like the Myanmar protests, social media has provided Cubans with a useful tool to share information, protest and unite. The #SOSCuba has now gone viral. In response, there are numerous reports of internet outages as President Díaz-Canel labels social media users as “enemies of revolution.”
While the Cuban President blamed social media for the protests, US President Joe Biden stated, “We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuban’s authoritarian regime.” There is a cruel irony to this statement considering the fact that it was the US itself that contributed to the sabotage of Cuba’s economy.
While the protesters are not specifically targeting the US embargo, it is important to know the crippling effect it has had on Cuba.
The role of the US in Cuba
As more details surface, the demand to end the US embargo on Cuba is echoing across social media. The first sanction on Cuba took place in 1958 and continued for decades until the Obama administration attempted to pull back on some of these.
The Trump administration, however, not only reimposed those same sanctions but pummeled the island with over 200 new ones, which specifically aimed to destabilise the Cuban economy and stir vexation or discontentment. These still standing sanctions have not been rectified or even addressed by the Biden administration thus far. Some of them even prevent US businesses from trading with Cuba.
Zarah Sultana MP took to Twitter to write that “the US has waged an economic war on Cuba for nearly 60 years. Its blockade of the country is estimated to have cost Cuba [over] $753 billion.” Yes, billion. She continued stating, “If you care about Cuba, the key demand is for Washington to end its economic war on the country just as the UN has repeatedly demanded.”
The US has waged economic war on Cuba for nearly 60 years. Its blockade of the country is estimated to have cost Cuba $753,000,000,000+.
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) July 12, 2021
If you care about Cuba, the key demand is for Washington to end its economic war on the country, just as the UN has repeatedly demanded.
On 23 June 2021, the UN General Assembly called on the US to end its embargo on Cuba for the 29th year in a row. The resolution was first approved in 1992 and has been in circulation ever since. With overwhelming support from the international community, 184 countries voted in favour of ending the US economic blockade on Cuba while the US and Israel voted against. Brazil, Colombia and Ukraine abstained from the vote.
Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Cuba’s Foreign Minister, who was present at the vote argued that the US embargo on Cuba has had dire effects on the country—making it incredibly hard to access and acquire equipment necessary for food production and the development of COVID-19 vaccines. He stated that “like the virus, the blockade asphyxiates and kills, it must stop.”
