Cuban Foreign Minister criticizes the White House Security Advisor for supporting Cuban protests | CNN

Demonstrations in Cuba: "We are no longer afraid" 1:48

(CNN) -

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez on Monday criticized White House Security Adviser Jake Sullivan for issuing a statement in support of the rare Cuban protests that rocked the island nation a day earlier.

Thousands of Cubans took to the streets on Sunday to protest the lack of food and medicine as the country undergoes a serious economic crisis exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and US sanctions.

• PHOTOS |

  Protests in Cuba and support in Miami

“The White House National Security Advisor lacks the political and moral authority to speak about #Cuba.

His government has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars for subversion in our country and imposes a genocidal blockade, the main responsible for economic deficiencies, ”Rodríguez said in a tweet.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan expressed his support for the Cuban people on Sunday night, tweeting: "The United States supports freedom of expression and assembly in Cuba, and would strongly condemn any violence or attacks against peaceful protesters. who exercise their universal rights ".

Hundreds of people in Miami join the protest in Cuba 2:19

The president of Cuba has blamed the United States government for the unprecedented protests.

In a nationally televised speech on Sunday, Miguel Díaz-Canel said that US trade sanctions had created economic misery on the communist-run island.

This comes when relations between the United States and Cuba are at one of their lowest points in years.

The Trump administration enacted some of the toughest economic measures against Cuba in decades, and so far the Biden administration seems reluctant to lift them.

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