I’m going to be Cuban-American on main because this is important and I am extremely upset.
Sunday, July 11th 2021, protests erupted across Cuba against the government because (but not limited to) the following:
Lack of access to medical care
When I say lack of access I mean there is quite literally no medicine available. No hospital beds. No ventilators. Nada. Nada. Nada.
Food shortages. You can’t feed yourself, let alone a family.
The government controls electricity and the internet so access to either of those things are limited
People are DYING, and have been dying.
Cuban-Americans, Cuban immigrants, and those who live in Cuban communities know this. U.S.-based Cubans have been sending food, clothes, medicine, technology to their families on the island for years. And now Cubans are taking to the streets, thousands strong, protesting for their basic human rights.
I’m upset because in the day that this news broke, it has become a discourse for ‘capitalism vs socialism vs communism’ or the focus has become entirely on U.S. Imperialism (which definitely is a factor in what’s happening but that’s an ENTIRELY different and extremely nuanced conversation). If what little news coming out of Cuba is to be believed, protestors are being murdered now. They’re being beaten, arrested, attacked, and killed. And instead of focusing on the CUBAN PEOPLE, the people who are suffering, and have been suffering for years, I see a whole bunch of people using this time to flex their political opinions on a country they know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about. This in no way helps spread information on what’s happening on the island or calls to action on what to do about it!! It floods the SOScuba hashtag with political discourse instead of much-needed INFORMATION.
The first thing Americans can help with is protesting the U.S. Embargo against Cuba. THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS ASKING FOR U.S. INTERVENTION. The embargo makes things harder on Cuba, this is NOT the fix-all solution, but removing it will help.
I don't have a comprehensive compilation of links that address the situation, but I am searching for them and will be updating this post with them. If you have any links or info that I can add to this post, please do so or DM me!
This is an article from The Miami Herald breaking down the situation. It is actively being actively updated and I think it provides a good basis of information. It also includes protests and demonstrations happening in Miami, which has a massive Cuban immigrant and Cuban-American population.