After the historic protests that took thousands of Cubans to the streets on Sunday, and the violent repression of the regime with dozens of arrests and reports of disappearances, the US Coast Guard published a message of support to the people of the island but also trying to dissuade who might be planning to emigrate to the United States.
The Coast Guard "is aware of and aware" of the peaceful protest against "the increase in suffering and repression on the island," and "supports" the Cuban people in defending their "fundamental right to freedom of expression."
But, according to the message released in Spanish by the US embassy in Havana, it also "reminds any person or group of people who are considering participating in an illegal trip not to go out to sea in this way."
"Transit through the Straits of Florida
is dangerous and relentless
. Almost 20 lives were tragically lost in recent weeks as a result of these trips," he stressed.
[
Biden supports the "clamorous call for freedom" of the Cuban people as the regime blames the embargo and the pandemic
]
Despite the risks, crossing the strait in fragile boats
is a common resource for Cubans
who want to reach the United States.
In the 1980s and 1980s, the island experienced mass exoduses of citizens desperate for a better future.
Protests in Cuba keep the regime and thousands of residents clamoring for freedom in suspense
July 13, 202103: 59
Many of these crossings end in tragedy, with the occupants of the rafts drowned or missing.
A week ago, for example, a dozen people were swallowed by the sea south of Key West when they tried to reach the coast in the middle of Tropical Storm Elsa.
"The Coast Guard and local, state and federal agencies
are monitoring any activity
that may indicate an increase in illegal and unsafe maritime migration in the Straits of Florida, including the unauthorized departures of vessels from Florida towards Cuba," he warned in a release.
Getty Images
This Monday, a group of Cuban-Americans also began to organize a possible boat trip from Florida to the island to bring food and medicine in support of the protests, according to the news agency The Associated Press.
Cuba is experiencing
its worst economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union
in 1991, further aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has collapsed the health system, and with a resurgence of repression against political opponents of the authoritarian regime.
In this context, thousands of Cubans took to the streets of multiple provinces around the Caribbean island this Sunday in an unusual protest in which civilians shouted slogans against the communist regime such as "We want freedom" and "We are no longer afraid."
The Cuban ruler, Miguel Díaz-Canel, responded that same day with threats: "The order to fight is given, the revolutionaries take to the streets."
Since then, more than a hundred people have been arrested and there are reports of disappearances.
This Monday, however, Díaz-Canel admitted that the island is going through a deep economic crisis, which translates, for example, into food shortages, blackouts and a lack of medicines (especially, in the face of the coronavirus pandemic).
But he avoided any hint of self-criticism and blamed this crisis on the decades-long US trade embargo.
In any case, the regime has congratulated itself for having shut down the protests, for which it also blames the United States, after shielding the streets with police and military, and turning to its retired leader Raúl Castro to mobilize his followers and demonstrate his strength.
Cuban exile leaders demand strong actions from Biden against the island's regime
July 12, 202101: 04
The streets of the main cities are still heavily guarded by the police and there is a climate of tension, according to what several witnesses have explained to Noticias Telemundo.
"People are in a situation where they
don't know what will happen tomorrow,
" painter Ernesto Estévez told Noticias Telemundo from Havana on Tuesday.
["We want freedom": thousands of Cubans take to the streets to denounce shortages and repression]
President Joe Biden expressed solidarity with the protesters on Monday and said he supported "the clamorous call for freedom" of the Cuban people.