EDIT 2: video from Spanish newspaper El Pais
Source
COVID was kept pretty well under control for the past year, but cases have started to spike in the past month and it's getting worse. Half the cases in the country are in Matanzas, a province close to Havana. A month or two ago when the pandemic was getting bad there, the government was firing doctors whose COVID patients died, accusing them of medical malpractice. Now they are running out of doctors in Matanzas because the doctors themselves are dying of COVID -- even some who received the Abdala vaccine that is supposedly very effective. It may be, but there are understandably doubts about the honesty of the Cuban government on this matter.
Cuba is still restricting flights from the U.S. because of the pandemic, even though almost 50% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated (70% of adults in Miami-Dade county are fully vaccinated). By contrast, flights from Russia to Cuba are commonplace even though less than 13% of the Russian population is vaccinated. This is important because Americans are allowed to bring medical supplies to Cuba. Among other things, the protestors are saying this policy of restricting flights from the U.S. is doing more harm than good because it would be easier for Cubans to receive medical supplies if more Americans were allowed to come. The country has a shortage of masks (doctors are using simple fabric masks, not N95s or medical masks), soap, and hand sanitizer.
Frustrations over COVID are exacerbated by the shortage of food and the way the regime represses speech critical of the government. As mentioned in the first article, the slogan of the regime is "Patria o Muerte" (literally 'homeland or death'). A collaborative protest song called "Patria y Vida" was released earlier this year by several notable Cuban artists. The government produced a counter-protest song in response, and has targeted artists and protestors using the slogan Patria y Vida. In the last few months, they vandalized an activist's house, stealing and destroying some of his art, then arrested him when he protested with a hunger strike. They took him to a hospital where a doctor alleged that he was badly mistreated. He has since been released and is joining the protests today. All this to say there is a lot going on in Cuba and this is a complex, developing situation.
EDIT: Update because the source news article was updated with new info.
The President encourages violence against protestors:
Foreign minister blames paid protestors:
Background info:
Police response -- people being beaten and arrested, internet being shut down:
There is also video at the Miami Herald. It seems to be hosted by the site so I don't know if I can embed it. I've seen tons of video on Facebook -- lots of people seem to be using Facebook Live to discourage the police from acting aggressively.
Source
COVID was kept pretty well under control for the past year, but cases have started to spike in the past month and it's getting worse. Half the cases in the country are in Matanzas, a province close to Havana. A month or two ago when the pandemic was getting bad there, the government was firing doctors whose COVID patients died, accusing them of medical malpractice. Now they are running out of doctors in Matanzas because the doctors themselves are dying of COVID -- even some who received the Abdala vaccine that is supposedly very effective. It may be, but there are understandably doubts about the honesty of the Cuban government on this matter.
Cuba is still restricting flights from the U.S. because of the pandemic, even though almost 50% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated (70% of adults in Miami-Dade county are fully vaccinated). By contrast, flights from Russia to Cuba are commonplace even though less than 13% of the Russian population is vaccinated. This is important because Americans are allowed to bring medical supplies to Cuba. Among other things, the protestors are saying this policy of restricting flights from the U.S. is doing more harm than good because it would be easier for Cubans to receive medical supplies if more Americans were allowed to come. The country has a shortage of masks (doctors are using simple fabric masks, not N95s or medical masks), soap, and hand sanitizer.
Frustrations over COVID are exacerbated by the shortage of food and the way the regime represses speech critical of the government. As mentioned in the first article, the slogan of the regime is "Patria o Muerte" (literally 'homeland or death'). A collaborative protest song called "Patria y Vida" was released earlier this year by several notable Cuban artists. The government produced a counter-protest song in response, and has targeted artists and protestors using the slogan Patria y Vida. In the last few months, they vandalized an activist's house, stealing and destroying some of his art, then arrested him when he protested with a hunger strike. They took him to a hospital where a doctor alleged that he was badly mistreated. He has since been released and is joining the protests today. All this to say there is a lot going on in Cuba and this is a complex, developing situation.
EDIT: Update because the source news article was updated with new info.
The President encourages violence against protestors:
Foreign minister blames paid protestors:
Background info:
Police response -- people being beaten and arrested, internet being shut down:
There is also video at the Miami Herald. It seems to be hosted by the site so I don't know if I can embed it. I've seen tons of video on Facebook -- lots of people seem to be using Facebook Live to discourage the police from acting aggressively.
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