Miami, USA — On July 11, 2021, thousands of Cubans took to the streets of the Caribbean island to protest against the government led by Miguel Díaz-Canel, denounce his management, and demand freedom for the Cuban people. These historic demonstrations challenged the Castro regime and their images, with people carrying signs with slogans like «We are more» and «We are not afraid,» went around the world. The United States reacted immediately to these protests, with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers coming out in support of the marches «for the freedom of Cuba.» Democratic Senator Bob Menendez from New Jersey, of Cuban origin, described these protests as «a historic day.» «The whole world has witnessed how thousands of Cubans were forced to take to the streets to demand an end to the dictatorship in their country. Despite the daily persecution on the island, the Cuban people have bravely united to demand the freedom to live safely and express their thoughts freely and without fear,» he added. Republican Senator Ted Cruz from Texas was convinced that «the communist Cuban regime will be thrown into the trash heap of history» and denounced the actions of the Cuban government, stating that they «have brutalized and denied freedom to generations of Cubans.» On the occasion of the second anniversary of these historic marches, members of both parties of the United States Congress gathered in Miami, Florida to participate in a special session of the Foreign Relations Committee of Congress in order to commemorate this day and support these movements aimed at «achieving freedom for Cuba.» «Cubans want to live like anyone else» During the special session, Republican Representative Maria Elvira Salazar from Florida lamented that «after 60 years of the Castro dictatorship,» they are still fighting «to bring freedom» to the Caribbean island. «We have the privilege of being first-generation Cuban-Americans. But we cannot forget what our ancestors experienced and what the Cubans on the island continue to endure,» said Salazar during the special session. She also emphasized that «Cubans are like any person in the Western Hemisphere,» stressing that «they want freedom, they want to travel, they want to feed their children, they want to marry, study, and find happiness according to their own needs.» In that sense, Salazar, who serves as chair of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the United States Congress, denounced that the Cuban government continues to use «a repressive apparatus» against the people, which she believes is the main reason why they have not yet been able to achieve the «freedom» that they demanded in those historic marches on July 11, 2021, and which are also commemorated in the political sphere of the United States. Also attending the meeting were Republican lawmakers Mario Diaz-Balart and Michael Waltz, and on the Democratic side, representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz, who have long expressed their support for the Cuban people. China’s Presence in Cuba The meeting also addressed reports from U.S. intelligence that China is strengthening its infrastructure for data collection in foreign countries. In fact, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted that when the administration led by President Joe Biden took office in 2021, they became aware of Beijing’s movements. «We were informed about a number of sensitive efforts by Beijing around the world to expand its logistics, base, and data collection infrastructure overseas, to allow them to project and maintain military power at greater distances,» Blinken explained a few weeks ago. Representative Michael McCaul, Republican from Texas, who also attended the meeting in Miami, warned that these movements by the Asian giant pose «a clear danger to U.S. national security» and «cannot be tolerated.» In that sense, Wasserman Schultz also called the approaches by China and other countries such as Russia and Iran «absolutely unacceptable» and advocated for the continued application of sanctions. «We cannot allow repression to continue, so we must continue to impose sanctions and make sure the regime understands that the only path is to join democratic peoples, allowing free and fair elections,» she said. The organization Justicia 11J, responsible for safeguarding the rights of protesters in Cuba, confirmed to Voz de América that in the historic marches of July 11, 2021, 1,558 people were detained, and 682 are still in prison. They Demand More Sanctions Cuban dissident Rosa María Payá, daughter of the late activist and leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Payá, also participated in this special session at the emblematic Museum of the Assault Brigade 2506. Like the Republican and Democratic lawmakers, she also called for the implementation of more sanctions against the Cuban government to limit their movements and minimize «China’s military presence on our territory.» «The United States must expand individual sanctions to include Cuban regime officials, monitor military projects, and Chinese security and military agents in Cuba,» she said. According to Payá, there have been more than 3,000 protests on the island in 2022. «And they continue today because people are convinced that to overcome the crisis, we must get rid of the dictatorship, and that is why we decided to propose a roadmap to make it possible through citizen mobilization,» she added about the marches that have been taking place in Cuba to protest against the government of the island. Cuba says the United States is behind the protests For its part, the Cuban government accused the White House of having «direct responsibility for the disturbances on July 11 and 12, 2021» because «from its territory, individuals and groups were openly incited and financed to commit violations of the law.» «This included acts of violence, theft, assault, aggression, and a campaign of disinformation and slander on digital networks in the weeks leading up to the events,» reads an editorial published in Granma newspaper, owned by the Cuban Communist Party. The newspaper also criticized the fact that «the Miami terrorist machinery» uses social networks and the media «to call for chaos, violence, aggression against authorities, terrorism, and civil disobedience.» «So far this year, more than 300 such calls have been recorded from U.S. territory and other countries that incite action against the Cuban government, manipulating demands for situations created by the destabilizing machinery itself,» the Granma editorial added. Connect with Voice of America! Subscribe to our YouTube channel and activate notifications, or follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Fuente de TenemosNoticias.com: www.vozdeamerica.com
Publicado el: 2023-07-11 07:14:48
En la sección: América Latina – Voice of America