(credit: Photo by Gary Raynaldo) / ©Diplomatic Times / United States Embassy in Havana, Cuba.
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
Thousands of Cubans, led by President Miguel Diaz-Canel and Army General Raul Castro, marched outside the U.S. Embassy in Havana Friday protesting against the decades-old embargo. They also called for removal of Cuba from the U.S. State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism. Cuba is facing its worst economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 when subsidies from Moscow came to an abrupt halt. Cuban officials blame the island’s troubles on U.S. sanctions. Over the past two months, Cuba’s power grid has collapsed twice, leaving millions without electricity. In addition to frequent power blackouts, Cubans face food, fuel, and medicine shortages. Many don’t have access to clean water. Since 1962, the US has imposed a crippling economic embargo on Cuba.
Gracias #Cuba, por superar otra vez la imaginación más fértil. Por esa gran #MarchaDelPueblo con el General de Ejército al frente. Por el grito unánime: "No somos terroristas. Sáquennos de la lista" y #TumbaElBloqueo.
Gracias por la inspiración infinita. pic.twitter.com/x62Ev5I11z
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) December 21, 2024
Cubans are also bracing for increased economic pressure under President-elect Trump’s administration. Diaz-Canel sharply criticized the out-going administration of President Biden, saying it has “done nothing to move away from the line of reinforced blockade and economic suffocation of Cuba, which was left as a legacy by the Republican administration that returns to the Oval Office in January.” The first Trump administration designated Cuba as a state sponsor of terror, reversing an Obama-era action that removed the Latin American country from the list. Cuba was first placed on the list in 1982 under then-President Ronald Reagan but was removed in 2015 by Obama as part of a normalization of relations.
