The reason why Cubans went to the streets to do all the demonstrations — but not all of them | Coronavirus News Plague

Havana, Cuba – By Monday morning the roads near the 10 de Octubre of Havana had been repaired.

The only sign of violence last night were the old men in robes sweeping the last dust off the road, leaving only gray hairs when the thrown bricks fell.

And this road, which runs south of Havana to the picturesque Church of Jesus del Monte, which was located on top of a hill, was the scene of an unusual demonstration in the Cuban capital on Sunday.

Other demonstrations took place across the country, with the first meetings held outside Havana in the town of St Antonio de los Banos. Opponents chanted “Libertad” – freedom – and “Patria y Vida”, the land of fathers and life, a play on the changing Patria o Muerte, which claims that the willing to die for their homeland. “We’re not scared,” he sang again.

The videos and stories of the demonstrations spread on social media, bringing some 1,250km across the country.

Thousands of people marched

In the province of Santiago de Cuba, people walk to the town of Palma Soriano. There were reports of riots in Santa Clara, in the interior, and in Cardenas, a town most affected by the coronavirus.

The protests spread so fast that the government seemed to be in a state of shock and President Miguel Diaz Canel began making all plans – including the final Euro 2020 football – to call for people to take to the streets to protest.

Surrounded by heavy security, he appeared on the streets of St Antonio de los Baños, where he called the protesters “terrorists” and assured them that they had been deceived by what the military was supporting by foreign powers. “We call on all those who want to change the government of this country, all communists, to take to the streets,” he said in a televised address.

Ramiro Valdes, 89, who fought alongside the Castros and rose to become vice president before retiring earlier this year, wrote that the protesters were “extremists in the service of the kingdom, following instructions given by their owners”. Since most of the protesters were young, his comments highlighted the major disagreements that have been opened in Cuba.

The Diaz Canel exhibition at St Antonio de los Banos was designed to be the culmination of the last major exhibition in Cuba, in 1994 during the Cuban special period, when the economy collapsed after the withdrawal of financial aid from the Soviet Union. The then president Fidel Castro appeared in the famous Havana cornfield, Malecon, to speak out against the protest.

Signs of a famine of that time are now manifest.

Problems are growing

Cuba’s crisis has been growing steadily over the years as the lack of funding has increased over time – but the epidemic has exacerbated the problem. Last year, tourism went from bad to worse and the economy accounted for 11%, which is believed to be the worst ever.

Many Cubans work in the preaching work, or at least in part, to provide for their families, or they may rely on remittances. All of that money is gone.

In the meantime, the government has merged two currencies – the Cuban Pesos modified Cuban wings. This seemed like a long-term restructuring – the plan protected old-fashioned and under-performing companies – but it came to a standstill.

The move saw the return of the United States dollar as a common currency. The government, in order to make a solid money had to pay for the goods it sold, and then moved more essentials to stores called “MLC” where only the culprits – who are foreign – the money was received.

The black market stabilized as the price of pesos dropped by half or worse at its level against the US dollar and the Euro. The large lines in the MLC stores also mean that the black food market has emerged.

This exchange favors those who have access to foreign exchange, although the high cost of food has meant that those with dollars pay almost what they already made for bread, eggs and medicine (some items, such as milk, are all impossible to obtain).

For those on the other side of the business, however, who have to buy foreign currency with their own money, food and medical expenses have doubled and doubled. Defendant after defender on Sunday told reporters he had taken to the streets because people were hungry and had no food.

Power cuts are now exacerbating the problem. Many parts of the country have been facing a four- or six-hour ban on what the government has said is a non-changeable garment due to the 60-year-old United States of Cuba. It also said that electricity in anti-COVID-19-affected hospitals should be protected.

Extreme levels of rainstorms

At 9 a.m. Monday morning, calm in the streets, state television began airing a council meeting. Local journalists interviewed the President, the Minister of Health, and the Minister of Energy and Food. Diaz-Canel condemned the protests over the “economic collapse” in the US.

He burned the spectators, too. “They threw stones at foreign shops, stole things,” he said, before calling their actions “vulgar, inappropriate and abusive”.

Since the protests, Cubans have been protesting against the closure of the entire Internet island. Meanwhile, reporters across the Florida Straits covered the event. Cuban communities in southern Florida want to “intervene” and hold a rally outside Versailles’ famous restaurant.

Police vehicles are seen rolling down a street in Havana on July 11th [Yamil Lage/AFP]

The mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, told the crowd: “The United States and other countries need to take action now. Cubans need medicine. They are hungry. They need international help.”

Michael Bustamante, a well-known Cuban patron and assistant professor of literature in Latin America at Florida International University, responded by calling for an intervention, saying on Twitter: “This is not helpful.”

Joe Biden, President of the US, said in a statement: “We stand with the people of Cuba and make it clear that freedom and relief from the scourge and the long-suffering and economic suffering of Cuban regime.”

Outside the Zanja police station, where night after night the police had met the musicians, they sometimes marched in groups to arrest people, and their imprisoned brothers sat patiently.

The sun was shining but above a hurricane in Havana was gathering.