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Cuban military vehicles
Photo: ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI / REUTERS
They wanted to demonstrate for freedom and against mismanagement in their country.
But nothing comes of it: A high presence of security forces prevented new protests against the government in Cuba.
Numerous activists, journalists and other people who spread the protest call or spoke out against the government reported on social media on Monday that they were being prevented from leaving their homes. There were also reports of arrests of Cubans who took to the streets of Havana and other cities in white clothing and white roses - symbols of protest. Vice-President of the Council for Democratic Transition, Manuel Cuesta Morua, was arrested while trying to leave the house, his wife Nairobi Scheri told the AFP news agency.
Groups of supporters of the socialist government gathered in front of the houses of some activists, shouting slogans and insults, as seen in videos on Twitter.
This affected Saily González, a member of the Archipiélago activist group that organized the demonstrations.
"If I'm not let out today, I'll do it tomorrow - with more conviction and determination than today," she tweeted.
There is a dictatorship in Cuba that must be ended.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez spoke of a "failed operation" and accused the United States of being behind the call for a demonstration.
"Apparently my colleagues in Washington dressed up for free for a party that didn't take place," he scoffed in a video posted on Facebook.
Protests are extremely rare in Cuba.
Most recently there were demonstrations in around 40 cities in July.
At the time, it was the largest anti-government event since the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro (read more here).
People expressed their displeasure with the worst economic crisis in 30 years and the associated electricity and food shortages.
Some of the demonstrations were violently suppressed and one person was killed.
More than 1200 people have been arrested and, according to the civil rights group Cubalex, more than 650 of them are still in prison.
as / dpa / AFP