US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday called on "
the Cuban government to respect the rights of Cubans, allowing them to assemble peacefully,
" in a statement.
Read alsoTensions in Cuba before the civic march of the "15 N"
He also called on Havana to let the demonstrators "
express themselves without fear of reprisals or violence, and by letting them exchange information freely over the internet and telecommunications lines
," the statement read. Communist authorities on the island have banned a demonstration planned for Monday by the Cuban opposition. The latter calls for rallies in Havana and six provinces to demand the release of political prisoners, despite the threat of criminal prosecution.
In his press release, Antony Blikien invites the regime to "
seize this historic opportunity to listen to the voices of the people
", and asks them to "
reject all violence
" against the demonstrators.
The call to protest comes four months after the July 11 protests that saw thousands of Cubans take to the streets shouting “
Freedom
” or “
We're hungry
”.
These rallies resulted in one death, dozens of wounded and the arrest of 1,175 people, 612 of whom are still imprisoned, according to the human rights NGO Cubalex.
Washington had condemned this crackdown and promised to help the Cubans, taking sanctions against two Cuban police officials.
But US President Joe Biden had been accused of not doing enough to support opponents of the Communist regime, in particular by republican opposition leaders and by the large community of Americans of Cuban origin.