Five days after unprecedented protests in Cuba, the tension seems to have dropped a notch, but the measures announced by the authorities on Wednesday will certainly not calm the spirits ...

"Now Cubans feel able to face the authorities"

The anti-government demonstrations in Havana, the capital of Cuba, on July 11, 2021. REUTERS - ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI

Text by: Romain Lemaresquier Follow

5 mins

Five days after unprecedented protests in Cuba, the tension seems to have dropped a notch, but the measures announced by the authorities on Wednesday will certainly not calm the spirits, believes Manuel Cuesta Morua, a Cuban opponent, promoter of a platform requesting authorization from other parties.

Publicity

RFI: What happened last Sunday in Cuba?

Manuel Cuesta Morua: On

Sunday, to the surprise of all Cuban society and the whole world, in San Antonio de los Baños, a town in the south-east of Havana, thousands of residents took to the streets to demand the freedom, democratic changes and intoning "

Fatherland and life

", hoping that the government takes into account their demands for a democratic space and better living conditions.

There were thousands of them, and it

spread to the rest of the country

More than 50 towns and villages have also called for these changes.

Something we had never experienced in the history of Cuba.

Were you arrested last Sunday?

I was trying to join one of the demonstrations that were held in Havana.

I was with an activist from the San Isidro movement.

But, of course, we had been followed since we left our houses, and on the way, we were questioned.

The police took us out of the car and forced us into a police car.

Then we were taken to a police station where we stayed from 4am Sunday until late Monday afternoon.

Was this protest movement predictable?

Things have been piling up for years. Many actors, in many places, and who come from different sectors, have occasionally expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation in which the country finds itself. It was going to explode somehow. Fortunately, the Cuban government, which underestimates Cuban society and overestimates itself, did not realize that there were strong currents in the country, with people discussing this social unrest.

The

social networks

have helped to accentuate this communication, which helped to create the climate of trust necessary for people to feel protected. And all of a sudden what many were waiting for later happened. People thought it would take a little longer for it to mature. But Cuban society was in a hurry and it turned out to be more mature than one thought. And so this movement quickly started and the social unrest manifested itself in a way that destroyed the rhetoric, the rhetoric of the government.

The Cuban government has announced measures to try to calm popular discontent (in particular the authorization to bring back food, hygiene products and medicines without limit of value and without customs taxes).

Are they sufficient?

People demanded humanitarian corridors, they wanted to receive medicine and food, but they also demanded freedom.

Moreover, many expressed it on social networks by saying

"
it is not enough
"

What citizens are demanding is freedom and a democratic space and that their rights to freedom of expression, of association, all that has to do with civil and political freedoms be respected.

In my opinion, these measures are insufficient.

Now, on the one hand, there should be a big discussion within power, and on the other, a realignment of civil society and Cuban society to continue to exert pressure.

These, in my opinion, are the two things that we will soon see, which will not prevent demonstrations from taking place in areas where social unrest persists.

Because now people feel ready, emancipated, and they know that together they are able to defend the social rights of all Cubans.

Do you think the events of last Sunday mark a break?

Yes.

Now people feel able to face the authorities.

And all say it: they are all on the same wavelength.

► Also to listen: Cuba: “spontaneous” demonstrations but also “obvious attempts to generalize them”

"Now Cubans feel able to face the authorities"

"Now Cubans feel able to face the authorities"

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest