Cuba and the United States seek a rapprochement, will it be achieved?
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Havana, Cuba (CNN) --
US officials on Wednesday criticized the Cuban government for what they described as "inhumane" interference with the families of jailed Cuban protesters, some of whom were prevented from meeting with US diplomats in Havana.
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“We condemn the Cuban government’s detention of the families of jailed #11J protesters who were scheduled to meet with US officials in Havana today,” Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Brian A. Nichols said on Twitter. “ Preventing parents from talking about their imprisoned children is unfair and inhumane.”
5 Things about July 11: Cuba, one year after the mass protests
The protesters had been jailed following island-wide protests that began on July 11, 2021.
U.S. officials planned to meet with their families during a trip to Havana on immigration issues — one of the highest-level meetings Cuba has had with the Biden administration — that seemed to signal a new approach to the communist-ruled island after years. of higher penalties.
But on Wednesday, at least six relatives of the protesters were detained by police on their way to the meeting, according to human rights activists.
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Although Cuban officials often complain that US and European diplomats meet with anti-government activists, it is unusual for authorities to carry out group arrests to prevent a meeting from taking place at an embassy.
"They stopped me at a checkpoint and took me to a police station," Marta Perdomo told CNN.
She was traveling to the US Embassy, where she had been invited to speak to visiting officials about the case of her two sons, who are serving prison terms for their involvement in the protests.
Almost 400 people in Cuba are sentenced for last year's protests
Perdomo, who said she was released by police on Wednesday afternoon, has advocated for her children's release after they took to the streets of her city on July 11 last year, calling for greater freedoms and criticizing officials. cubans.
While some of last year's protests turned violent, many remained peaceful with protesters calling for changes to the island's system, which is a one-party state run by the Cuban Communist Party that prohibits political opposition.
The Cuban government has claimed that the US government orchestrated the protests and has handed down lengthy sentences to hundreds of protesters.
Cuban officials did not respond to a request for comment.
But on Wednesday night, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, the Cuban Foreign Ministry's top diplomat for US affairs, wrote on Twitter: “The mistaken belief of the United States that it has the prerogative to interfere in internal affairs of Cuba is almost as old as that of both countries.
It explains to a certain extent the immoral and illegitimate economic blockade designed to depress the standard of living of every Cuban."