14ymedio, Havana, 18 March 2024 — For the second day in a row, dozens of people gathered in front of a police station in El Cobre, a town in Santiago de Cuba province. The Cuban government and the Foreign Ministry, however, are pushing another narrative. They attribute the protest to interference from Washington and have summoned the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Havana, Benjamin Ziff, to complain.
Several videos posted on social media claim the demonstration started after family memebers of the three detainees staged a protest in front of the police station on Sunday to call for their release.
In one of the videos posted by independent journalist Yosmany Mayete Labrada, police officers and soldiers can be seen trying to arrest a young man as several civilians intervene to stop them. Several demonstrators also sat in the middle of the street, blocking a squad car which was there to take the young man to jail.
Clips from other videos show protesters shouting “freedom” as the police officers advance towards the crowd with clubs in their hands. “The town is heavily militarized and people have tried to prevent the police from transferring three protesters who were unjustly arrested,” Mayeta stated on Facebook.
#17M #RepresiónCuba Frente a la estación de Policía del poblado de El Cobre, en Santiago de Cuba, decenas de personas se aglomeraron este lunes, en una segunda jornada de protestas en la misma localidad | Video: Yosmany Mayeta/Facebook https://t.co/Ji3fXzcTrM pic.twitter.com/smaIVQo84Q
— 14ymedio (@14ymedio) March 18, 2024
Following protests on Saturday, the Cuban government accused Washington of trying to destablilize the country. On Monday the Foreign Ministry took things one step further, summoning Ziff to a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío to lodge a formal complaint.
In a press release, the Foreign Ministry stated, “The American diplomat was reminded of the minimum standards of decency and honesty that are expected of a diplomatic mission in any country, which the United States embassy in Cuba is incapable of observing. It was also pointed out that this diplomatic office and its personnel are obliged to behave in accordance with the rules of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”
Once again, they reminded Ziff that the U.S. bears direct responsibility for Cuba’s economic crisis, particularly for “the depression and shortage of essential goods and services,” which it blamed on the U.S. trade embargo, calling it ’the blockade’. They also accused Washington of pursuing a policy of destabilization with clearly “aggressive purposes” and brought up the issue of Cuba’s presence on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism. In a revealing final comment, they also blamed the United States for targeting the country’s fuel imports and for “intimidating businesspeople, visitors, artists and an