Troubles in Cuba: the diaspora mobilized in Paris to demand a reaction from the French authorities
Audio 01:12
A hundred demonstrators gathered near the Cuban embassy in Paris to demand, among other things, a reaction from the French authorities on July 17, 2021. © RFI / Marie Normand
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4 min
Almost a week ago, spontaneous and historic demonstrations were held in more than 50 Cuban cities to protest against the shortages, the economic and health crisis.
According to several human rights organizations, several hundred people are still detained.
It is in particular to demand their release that the Cuban diaspora is mobilizing, this Saturday, July 17, around the world, in Madrid, Kiev, Washington, but also in Paris where a hundred demonstrators gathered near the Cuban Embassy to demand, among other things, a reaction from the French authorities.
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The slogan “
Cuba Libre
” inscribed his T-shirt, Escobar Aridel brandished a sign “
Down with the dictatorship
”. Reinvigorated, he explains, by the strong mobilization of July 11 in Cuba: “
It was something really fantastic. The people have always been afraid. Now he is no longer afraid. It is a light, a hope that Cuba will one day experience democracy.
"
Clémence Samson accompanies her husband, a Cuban artist who says he fled repression.
Both regret that the police headquarters only authorized this demonstration 150 m from the Cuban embassy.
"
It's a shame not to be closer to the embassy and not be able to look them in the eye,
" she laments.
It is a position of France which is quite clear on how the Cuban crisis is being treated in France.
"
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To read also:
Cuba: the announced economic measure does not satisfy social discontent
Orlando prefers not to give his name to protect his family back home.
He too denounces the silence of France, from whom he calls for a clear condemnation of the repression of demonstrations in Cuba: “
It remains ambiguous, like Spanish diplomacy, because they have political interests.
I think that Cuba does not represent an economic interest for France, that is why we do not talk about it.
"
He assures us: the diaspora can put pressure on the government of Havana, in a country which partly lives on money transfers from Cubans abroad.
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