‘Please do not go to sea’: US Coast Guard to travel to US Cuba | Criticism Story
The United States Coast Guard in Miami says it is reviewing anything that seeks to increase the “unsafe and illegal” crossing between Florida and Cuba in response. Missing street shows on the island.
Former Admiral Eric C. Jones issued a warning Monday night as Cuban teams in the US say they are planning to sail a canoe full of goods to Cuba Cuban critics. South Florida has the largest Cuban population in America.
“Please don’t go to the beach,” Jones said in a statement. “The Coast Guard together with our international, state and federal counterparts are investigating any incidents” that may be unsafe in Florida complex “including illegal ships from Florida to Cuba”.
Florida rivers, bordering the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, are located between the United States and Cuba.
#ThisJustIn – Please read Admiral Rear Eric C. Jones, Commander, @KamemeTvKenya District Seventh & Director, DHS Joint Task Force-Southeast statement on developments in Cuba recently. pic.twitter.com/hrs5eErWGC
– USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) July 12, 2021
Sunday thousands of Cubans lost in the streets in cities across the country to protest against the government, with many shouting “Libertad” – freedom – and “We are not afraid”. Major protests in Cuba for decades came between food shortages and drug shortages, with the COVID epidemic hitting the country hard.
Cuba is subject to US sanctions that currently limit the amount of money sent in US dollars that US families can send to relatives in Cuba.
The U.S. has the largest diaspora in Cuba, about 2.3 million in 2017, according to a Pew Research Center study by the US Census Bureau.
In Miami, Cuban journalists wrote Monday that they would make a 10-hour long trip to Cuba to cover the protests, reports the Miami Herald. The commanders said they had brought aid – and guns – and urged people in Miami to donate their boats.
One group gathered Monday night at the Pelican Harbor Marina near Miami’s North Bay Village, and people brought water bottles, flashlights and boxes of Chef Boyardee pastors, the newspaper reported.
“Water, food, medicine, everything we can take to Cuba. “Everything we can do to help is good,” Dennis Suayero told WSVN, Miami station.
The group did not get far on Monday night.
A message sent to the account of Santiago Rivera’s organizer on Tuesday earlier said the Coast Guard had suspended his team from going through the ordeal due to “trouble with guns”.
He promised to try again to leave Wednesday morning “with the approval of the authorities of this country”.
The Coast Guard report says such a permit would not be possible. It also described the trip as “dangerous and unforgivable” as about 20 Cubans have died trying to cross in recent weeks. He also said the Coast Guard is working with governments, local and state agencies to monitor “illegal travel from Florida to Cuba”.
Rivera’s case thanked those who were supporting the project and said Cubans knew their future and feared for their lives. “This is not politics, relationships, relationships and ideals, I am proud to be a Cuban on the land I have given my life for,” he read.
Thousands of Cuban Americans also gathered in Little Havana this weekend, demonstrating their support for the Cuban people who took part in the demonstrations. Such illegal demonstrations are very rare, and Cuban police had arrested Monday to control them.
The Cuban government is also slowing down access to the Internet on Monday, according to NetBlocks, an internet watchdog. There were disruptions on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and other Telegram servers, the agency said.
NetBlocks said the disruption was similar to the blockade in November 2020, and that some Cubans were able to get close to private networks, or VPNs.
The last time there was such a large-scale demonstration in Cuba about 30 years ago, in August 1994, when thousands of people took to the streets of Havana to protest against government policy. The protests were suppressed by the government, and more than 35,000 Cubans fled the island, many on board or boats to the US.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel criticized the United States for Sunday’s protests, and criticized Cuban people for using social media. He also said US sanctions on the island, which he called “blockade”, were the main reasons for the dissatisfaction of Cubans.
Miami mayor Francis Suarez, a Cuban American, sent a message online saying he had never heard of “such harassment from Miami people who want the government and them to take action on behalf of Cuba”. He said “this is a time of freedom” in Cuba.
