Joe Biden calls Cuba protests ‘remarkable’ as Havana accuses US of stoking unrest
- Cuba blames US for unprecedented anti-government protests that broke out on Sunday
- US president expresses support for protesters under Cuba’s ‘authoritarian regime’
“The Cuban people are demanding their freedom from an authoritarian regime. I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this protest in a long long time, if, quite frankly, ever,” Biden said.
The comments marked a notable change in tone from Biden’s old boss, Barack Obama, who as president sought to ease decades of tensions between Washington and Havana while loosening US imposed economic sanctions. It was an effort that was reversed by Republican President Donald Trump, who partially rolled back Obama’s rapprochement, limiting US travel to the island, banning American financial transactions with dozens of enterprises, and more.
“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 Cuba’s authoritarian regime,” Biden said in an earlier statement. “The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights.”
The only authorised gatherings in Cuba are usually events of the ruling Communist Party, but according to the data journalism site Inventario, a total of 40 demonstrations took place across the country on Sunday.
Cuba President Miguel Diaz-Canel blamed the discontent on the United States pursuing a “policy of economic suffocation to provoke social unrest in the country”.