Cuba shuts down planned anti-government protests
- Cuban security forces foil planned mass protest, with prominent dissidents confined to homes
- The White House slammed the crackdown, said it aimed to ‘silence’ peaceful protesters
Cuban authorities appeared to have largely shut down anti-government protests Monday, squashing opposition hopes of building on the massive demonstrations that roiled the island in July.
Human rights groups said protest leaders were being intimidated, isolated and harassed, keeping them from taking to the streets.
“We’re seeing an increase in the number of people who are being detained, and an escalation in the use of intimidation and threats of violence,” said Laritza Diversent, the founder of the Cubalex human rights group.
The Cuban government declared Monday’s “Civic March for Change” illegal. Leaders of the communist island have blamed the social unrest on Washington and its economic sanctions.
Several activists posted videos of their homes being surrounded by pro-government crowds chanting “traitor” and “mercenaries”. Others, including journalists, reported having their internet cut off. Over the weekend, Spain’s state-run news agency, EFE, said its reporters in Cuba had their work permits revoked, sparking a rebuke from Madrid. Groups also said there was a heavy police presence in the streets of Havana.
The protests come as the island’s economy has been staggering under the pandemic and a series of painful economic reforms that have sent inflation soaring. Organisers were hoping to use the event to press for human and civil rights, including the release of political prisoners.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel – who took power in 2018 after his mentors, Fidel and Raul Castro, ruled the island for more than 50 years – played down the discontent, tweeting out images of tourists arriving in Havana and children in school.
In July, tens of thousands took to the streets demanding “freedom” and “food”, in one of the largest protests in Cuba’s history. Cubalex says more than 600 people remain detained in the wake of those protests, and more than 100 have been charged with “sedition”, which can carry prison sentences of 10-20 years.
In addition, the government responded by tightening social media laws. Most Cubans didn’t have access to the Internet until 2015. Social media platforms and messaging apps have become hotbeds for dissent and organising protests.
The White House on Monday condemned the Cuban government’s crackdown on the planned nationwide protest.
“In advance of peaceful demonstrations planned for today, the Cuban regime predictably deployed a set piece of harsh prison sentences, sporadic arrests, intimidation tactics, and acts of repudiation all in an attempt to silence the voice of Cuban people as they clamour for change,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
