- Title: Cuban exiles take to the streets in Florida to support anti-government protests
- Date: 11th July 2021
- Summary: ORLANDO, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JULY 11, 2021) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS CARRYING CUBAN FLAGS AND CHANTING 'FREEDOM! FREEDOM!' AND CARRYING SIGNS THAT READ 'SOS CUBA' IN SUPPORT OF SAN ISIDRO ARTISTIC PROTEST MOVEMENT IN CUBA BACK SHOT OF PROTESTERS CHANTING FREEDOM PROTESTERS CHANTING 'FATHERLAND AND LIFE' IN ALLUSION TO ANTI-GOVERNMENT SONG BY CUBAN BAND GENTE DE ZONA PLAYING ON CUBAN REVOLUTIONARY SLOGAN 'FATHERLAND OR DEATH'
- Embargoed: 26th July 2021 00:02
- Keywords: Calle Ocho Cuban-Americans Cubans Little Havana Versailles protests
- Location: MIAMI AND ORLANDO, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- City: MIAMI AND ORLANDO, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,United States,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA002ELEDAH3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Cuban exile community took to the streets of Florida on Sunday (July 11) to show their support to rarely seen anti-government protests across Cuba, where people are expressing frustration over pandemic restrictions, the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations and what they said was government neglect.
Outside Miami's iconic Cuban restaurant Versailles, hundreds gathered, waving flags and chanting as a line of cars honked horns to show support for protesters on the island.
The protests on the island broke out earlier on Sunday in Artemisa Province, bordering Havana, with video on social media showing hundreds of residents chanting anti-government slogans and demanding everything from coronavirus vaccines to an end of daily blackouts.
There were protests later on Sunday hundreds of miles (km) to the east in Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba, where social media video showed hundreds marching through the streets, again confirmed by a local resident.
Thousands of people gathered in downtown Havana and along parts of the seaside drive amid a heavy police presence. There were a few arrests and scuffles, but no major confrontations.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who also heads the Communist Party, blamed the United States for the unrest in a nationally televised speech on Sunday afternoon.
The Communist-run country has been experiencing a worsening economic crisis for two years, which the government blames mainly on U.S. sanctions and the pandemic, while its detractors cite incompetence and a Soviet-style one-party system.
(Production: Arlene Eiras) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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