Cubans Demand Respect for Sovereignty & Self-Determination With Which They Decided to Build Socialism

Cuba demanded that its sovereignty and self-determination be respected, “with which we have decided to build socialism,” said the president of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel, during a press conference offered this Monday, July 12, in a joint television and radio broadcast, joined by members of his government, regarding the situation in the country facing a US blockade and destabilization attempts that occurred over the weekend.

“The OAS (Organization of American States) has been empowered and trained to play its role in unconventional warfare. Why hasn’t it been concerned about the negative effects of the blockade on Cubans?” asked the president.

The Cuban Revolution, he warned, is not going to turn the other cheek to those who attack it in virtual and real spaces. “We will avoid revolutionary violence, but we will repress counterrevolutionary violence,” said Díaz-Canel. “Whoever attacks law enforcement officers attacks the country. The counterrevolution dreams of a war between Cubans. We are not going to indulge them. We will come out of this with unity, discipline, and work.”

Díaz-Canel stressed that “our actions in the streets are against those who promote disorder with an interventionist agenda, manipulating the sentiments of the people faced with shortcomings and outbreaks of COVID-19.”

Cuba rejects media siege
On Monday, the President of Cuba rejected the media siege against the government’s management of the pandemic, and the narratives that encourage disunity in the country. In addition, Díaz-Canel condemned those who encourage provocations to destabilize the internal order of the island.

Likewise, he accused the government of the President of the United States, Joe Biden, of intensifying the measures against the island, and preventing the purchase of fuel and the equipment necessary for the Cuban electrical system to meet its demands.

One day earlier, thousands of Cubans took to the streets to express their support for the Revolution, in response to provocations that occurred at different places, instigated through social networks.

After protests by counterrevolutionary groups this Sunday, President Díaz-Canel assured that “they have tried to impose actions to discredit the Government and the Revolution and to fracture the unity of the people.”

Díaz-Canel specified that the people came out to defend the Revolution: “we never encouraged violence between Cubans.”

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Photo: Presidency of Cuba

Díaz-Canel denounced the violent ideology behind the disturbances that occurred in Cuba. He also denounced the media manipulations that attempt to pit Cubans against each other, when in reality the people were called upon to defend their rights.

Díaz-Canel said that they now intend to question the events of this Sunday, because they allege that a call was made for a confrontation between the Cubans: “They have already come up with [allegations] that in Cuba we repressed, we murdered. Where are the Cuban murders? Where is the Cuban repression? Where are the disappeared in Cuba?”

Cuban president talking with the people in the streets. Photo: @DiazCanelB

“We called on the people to defend their Revolution, and the people went to debate, to argue, but the protesters responded with violence, and the people defended themselves,” he said.

The president also asked, regarding the “famous ‘regime’ change,” who exactly was bothered by the so-called regime? Not most of the people of Cuba, as the majority continue to endorse the government through thousands of public debates.

Díaz-Canel accused “mercenaries in the pay of the United States” of organizing the protests on Sunday, although he admitted that citizens “confused” by the “lack of information” about the problems facing the country also participated.

En comparecencia especial @DiazCanelB ratificó que #Cuba exige que se respete la soberanía y la autodeterminación con la que los cubanos hemos decidido construir el Socialismo.@DiazCanelB #CubaUnida 🇨🇺#CubaSoberana 🇨🇺 pic.twitter.com/7lQAM7fpxe

— Presidencia Cuba 🇨🇺 (@PresidenciaCuba) July 12, 2021

Cuba makes an enormous effort to maintain electricity grid
For his part, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Liván Arronte Cruz, explained that the country is making an enormous effort to maintain electricity facilities and service for the people, in the midst of a tense situation caused by the economic, commercial, and financial blockade by the United States.

The Cuban president explained that before this, the government decided to protect the electricity generation destined for the population, even at the cost of having to slow down or reduce the country’s economic activity.

“For more than a year and a half we have been without blackouts, except those that occurred due to breakdowns in the distribution systems of the electro-energy systems,” he indicated. “Only now we have entered into a generation deficit due to the breakdown of the generation plants.”

Foreign Minister of Cuba calls on the US to confirm or deny that the State Department financed counterrevolutionaries
For his part, the Foreign Minister of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez, called on the government of the United States to confirm or deny that the main political operators of the groups that generated the campaign against Cuba have received funding from the State Department and USAID.

He argued that the forceful response “from our people caused the failure of the media operation and its attempt to generate a situation—which does not exist in Cuba—of ungovernability and social disorder.”

“Cuba attracts great international support, which translates into offers of practical support, donations from governments, international organizations and associations of Cubans living abroad, of enormous symbolic and moral value, that encourages the efforts of our people,” noted Rodríguez.

The Head of Cuban diplomacy denounced the cynicism and hypocrisy of the President of the United States, Joe Biden, who neglected any mention of the US blockade as the main cause of the island’s economic situation. He suggested that the US president listen to the calls to eliminate the siege that has affected the families of the Antillean nation for six decades.

Biden asked Havana to listen to the people and alleviate their needs, said Rodríguez, while he maintains the “sanctions”—including 243 new measures introduced by his predecessor, Donald Trump. Rodríguez clarified that what happened in Cuba the day before were disturbances caused by a communication operation to which the White House and its agencies allocate millions, to manipulate the Cuban reality and magnify any difficulties.

Rodríguez pointed out that the destabilizing actions are promoted from abroad and carried out by mercenaries, paid to use deficiencies to incite chaos.

Emplazo al gobierno de EEUU a que confirme o desmienta que los principales operadores políticos de la compañía que generó la campaña contra #Cuba ha recibido financiamiento del Departamento de Estado y de la USAID. pic.twitter.com/SkBe0RNCfO

— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) July 12, 2021