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Cuba erupts in protest

Robert Carroll

Source: Reuters

Nothing like massive protests in Cuba to pull you out of your summer sabbatical.

For the few people who really enjoy seeing the Reader in their inbox, I apologize for being offline the past couple of months. For the rest of you, hopefully you don't mind another point of view on the Cuba news of the day, which is quite big this time.

Cuba erupted on Sunday in what appears to be spontaneous, grassroots protests. They began in the provinces, but fueled by social media, quickly spread throughout the island. Cubans came out in thousands to protest their government on many issues: a fumbled COVID response, food shortages, and limited freedoms. Videos show Cubans shouting "we are not afraid!" and "freedom!" in the streets. Meanwhile, the government has been throttling access to the internet.

We haven't seen a movement like this for decades. Academics like Michael Bustamante are comparing these protests to the 1994 Maleconazo uprising, but bigger. The Maleconazo uprising led to an exodus of 35,000 Cubans to the U.S. on makeshift rafts — a dangerous way to migrate and a crisis for all parties.

The Cuban government, so far, has shown little restraint. AP reporter Michael Weissenstein tweeted a photo of a fellow journalist who was brutalized by police. Social media photos and videos portray widespread arrests and brutality. CiberCuba has compiled many of those posts here.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel went on TV to encourage "revolutionaries" to meet protestors in the streets. The protestors, by Diaz-Canel's measure, are just American-funded operatives and nothing more. In a closing statement, he gave his supporters permission to use violence against protestors.

Well, I don't like that.

Meanwhile, some on Twitter are calling for a U.S. military intervention in Cuba.

I don't like that either.

Certain people in D.C. are reveling in their political fortune. Marco Rubio, who owes much of his career to a hardline approach to Cuba, took to Twitter to voice support for protestors and condemn the Cuban government.

The White House, which has been mostly silent on Cuba up until now, responded with uncharacteristic boldness. President Biden released a statement this morning:

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. The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights. Those rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected. The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves.

There is still much yet to happen here, but here are a couple of current thoughts:

  • Biden's silence on Cuba before today has been frustrating, but he may have played his cards just right. By leaving Trump's heavy sanctions in place while he "reviewed" his Cuba policy, he may have fueled the Cuban people's discontent with its Communist government. Now Biden gets to stand up for human rights and stand with the Cuban people without taking any political risks. Thinking ahead to 2024, his statement today will play well with Cuban-Americans in Florida (an important voting bloc). By letting things play out, he also doesn't run afoul of the far left that abhors the U.S. embargo. It was Trump, after all, that increased sanctions. Biden just needs some more time for his "review." A good situation for Biden.

  • The U.S. has to walk a fine line when responding to the protests. Biden and other politicians must voice support for protestors who seek basic human rights. But they also run the risk of voicing too much support, thereby playing into the Cuban government's narrative that this is all just an American-led or CIA-funded protest movement.

We should keep an eye out for what happens next. Here are some great reporters on the ground that you can follow on Twitter as things unfold: