JURIST EXCLUSIVE – Thousands of Cubans took to the streets Sunday in anti-government protests animated by popular disapproval of the Cuban regime’s handling of the economy and the Covid crisis, not to mention ongoing political repression of dissidents. The government responded by calling on its own supporters to resist the protests, and cut off internet access to social media sites in an effort to limit communication.

In Miami, Cuban lawyer Daniela Carmona offers JURIST this perspective on the developing situation:

The situation in Cuba is devastating. For 62 years the Castros have violated every single human right to every Cuban. However, for the last couple of months, the situation has become worsen by more economic restrictions from the Government coupled with an increase in the number of cases positive for COVID-19. The hospitals are collapsed, there is no food, no medicine, no ambulances to transport persons to the hospitals, and so on. There are several testimonies of persons who have claimed that their families had died in their houses waiting for an ambulance. And the thing is that most Cubans do not have cars. The government does not sell cars to Cubans. They depend on the Government and the Government just doesn’t care about the people. There is a video on social media of a young woman whose brother died in their living room while they waited for the ambulance. She waited for hours. And she had the dead body there without help. And so much more is happening there….

So after 62 years of misery, all Cubans yesterday for the first time took to the streets to protest for everything they are going through and mainly asking the President to resign. Cubans do not support Communism or Socialism. If you hear otherwise, that’s a lie and a manipulation of the information. In Cuba, we did not have access to the Internet until 5 years ago. So everything that was out there about Cuba was communist propaganda. Thanks to the Internet’s access plus social media, Cubans started to uncover the reality of their lives by going Live on Facebook or Instagram and showing the police brutality, the living conditions, the situation of hospitals, etc. They started to see that they were not alone in the battle against the Castros because of the testimony of so many Cubans that every day reported the situation on their social media.

Cubans were pacifically and unarmed protesting for their rights. The President went live on TV and called for a Civil War. He asked “revolutionaries” (meaning the ones who allegedly support communism) to get out to fight back the protesters. And what they really did was to dress the militaries as civilians to get them into the crowd and hit the protesters. They later sent out the militia. The police were shooting unarmed civilians. And by that time the Regime shut out the electricity and Internet. At night I lost communication with my friends and by now they still haven’t gotten the Internet back. Some people are saying that a Satellite connection has been made available, but I cannot confirm that.

Today the protest continues, and the police keep fighting back with fire. They have arrested several protestors. I don’t know the exact figure yet.

Here in Miami, Cubans are supporting our people in Cuba by gathering together in front of Versailles (a famous Cuban restaurant here). We are asking for the support of the international community and for humanitarian intervention if the situation persists.

Daniela Carmona is a Cuban lawyer who currently resides in Miami. In May 2021 she graduated first in her class from the St. Thomas University College of Law in Miami Gardens. While at St. Thomas, she was an Associate Editor for JURIST, translating legal news stories into Spanish for JURIST’s Hispanic readers.