The communist dictatorial government of the nation of Cuba is pulling out all the stops allegedly to put down the pro-liberty movement that has started to protest against the regime in charge, as dissidents and those allied with them report that Cuban police officers are “arresting, beating, and killing” protesters.
According to a report that was released by the Associated Press on Tuesday, Cuban police have been “beefing up” patrols in the country. This is apparently come down as an order from Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who has now proven that his response to the people protesting against the government will be with brute force. Making things even worse is the fact that many of the stories now coming out of the country are difficult to confirm due to an internet blackout.
“Authorities appeared determined to put a stop to the demonstrations. More than a dozen protesters were detained, including a leading Cuban dissident who was arrested trying to attend a march in the city of Santiago, 559 miles (900 kilometers) east. The demonstrators disrupted traffic in the capital for several hours until some threw rocks and police moved in and broke them up,” the AP stated in their report. “Internet service was spotty, possibly indicating an effort to prevent protesters from communicating with each other.”
“On Monday, Cuban authorities were blocking Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram said Alp Toker, director of Netblocks, a London-based internet monitoring firm,” the report continued.
“We’ve seen how the campaign against Cuba was growing on social media in the past few weeks,″ Cuban President Díaz-Canel said late in the day on Monday, going on to defend the government’s decision to do a black out. “That’s the way it’s done: Try to create inconformity, dissatisfaction by manipulating emotions and feelings.”
Diaz-Canal has his own access to social media; he remains on Twitter giving official government updates on the situation on the ground in Cuba.
Florida media outlets report that dissidents have been using SMS messaging services to get video and narrative about the protests out of the island nation. One South Florida resident told Miami’s Local 10 news that “his friend in Havana sent him text messages asking him to tell friends in Miami that Cuban police officers were arresting, beating, and killing unarmed civilians.”
Video posted to social media, often through intermediaries in the United States, seems to confirm reports that Cuban police are engaging in a violent crackdown of pro-democracy demonstrations.
The videos are shocking, though because of the blackout, they remain unconfirmed.
According to a report from Reuters, the news outlet was able to confirm on Monday that “high-level dissidents” were arrested and as of this writing, there whereabouts are unknown.
“Jose Daniel, the leader of Cuba’s largest opposition group, the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), was arrested as he left home to join the protest in Santiago de Cuba in the east of the country on Sunday. His whereabouts is unknown, UNPACU activist Zaqueo Baez” said to Reuters. “Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara and Amaury Pacheco, two members of a dissident artists’ collective that has made headlines spearheading a broader protest movement in Cuba in recent years, were arrested on their way to protest in Havana, Pacheco’s partner Iris Ruiz told Reuters. Otero Alcantara was in jail while Pacheco’s whereabouts were unknown.”
They have also been sending out videos that have confirmed that protests are still happening, even though the Cuban government has been saying they weren’t.
CUBA 🇨🇺 | Ahora en Holguín, Cuba. Miles de cubanos están en las calles pidiendo LIBERTAD y que ACABE la DICTADURA. #SOSCuba pic.twitter.com/y5lY0LNwat
— Yusnaby Pérez (@Yusnaby) July 12, 2021
These protests have popped up due to the massive increase in coronavirus cases coupled with shortages of both food and medicine.
This, folks, is what communism in action looks like. It’s this kind of mess right here, with these insane rights violations, that the Democratic Party wants for our nation.
"*" indicates required fields
