Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has criticized the US government, accusing it of interfering in his country’s affairs.
Díaz-Canel’s stance was a response to the U.S. State Department, which the communist island on Monday accused of supporting hundreds of residents who took to the streets to protest food and electricity shortages.
The State Department responded by calling the accusations “absurd.”
Talk to NBC News On the sidelines of the International Computer Fair in Havana, the communist leader affirmed that the American embargo, which dates back to 1958, was illogical.
“They are always looking for justifications and looking to reverse the situation,” Díaz-Canel said. “The most absurd thing is that they have imposed a criminal blockade on us for more than 65 years. This is the absurdity.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Monday criticized the United States government in an interview with NBC News at the International Computer Fair in Havana and accused it of imposing a “criminal blockade against us for over 65 years old.
Cuban residents of the town of Bayamo demonstrated on Sunday against the lack of food and electricity.
The Cuban leader, who was the first secretary of the Communist Party and the most powerful person in the government, blasted the United States for labeling it a state sponsor of terrorism, along with Iran, Syria and North Korea.
“We are free, sovereign and independent, and we will continue to build our revolution,” Diaz-Canel said. “Despite the strengthening of the blockade, despite the fact that we have been included on a spurious list that could only be invented by a government as genocidal and hegemonic as the government of the United States.”
U.S. sanctions were imposed following the Cuban Revolution of 1953 to 1959.
“The revolution is very strong and the Cuban people are very aware of what it means to lose the revolution,” Díaz-Canel said.
The Cuban government said five protests took place on Sunday and warned residents against falling for lies and exaggerations spread on social media.
Protests over hours-long power outages and food shortages have spread from the central province of Santiago de Cuba to the southwestern province of Granma
Protests over hours-long power outages and food shortages spread from the central province of Santiago de Cuba to the southwestern province of Granma, located near the Guantanamo Bay naval base.
Protesters also expressed their dissatisfaction with the government by staging demonstrations in Santa Marta, near the resort town of Varadero, and in Los Mangos, a neighborhood in the city of Matanzas.
Opponents of the ruling communist government were seen on video marching through the streets of Bayamo, chanting “freedom” and “the united people will never be defeated.”
Sunday’s protests, rare in Cuba, were the largest night of confirmed demonstrations since October 2022, after residents were left without power for nearly a week because of Hurricane Ian.
Cuba’s state television news broadcast Monday morning social media posts – including some from members of the US Congress – about the protests, and accused US-based agitators of seeking to sow confusion in the situation or to stir up anger by suggesting a government crackdown or broader protests than was actually the case.
A man pedals a bicycle carrying a girl during a planned power outage in Bauta, Cuba, on Monday.
“They are always looking for justifications and seeking to turn the situation around,” Díaz-Canel said. “The most absurd thing is that they have imposed a criminal blockade on us for more than 65 years. This is the absurdity
“Let me be unequivocal about this: the United States is not behind the protests in Cuba and this accusation is absurd. We are closely monitoring this information,” said Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department.
“Demonstrations took place yesterday in several cities of Cuba to demand electricity, food and fundamental freedoms. I think that what we are witnessing is a reflection of the disastrous situation that reigns on the island”, – he added. “We urge the Cuban government to refrain from violence and unjust detention and call on authorities to respect the right of Cuban citizens to peacefully assemble.”
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel also pointed the finger at Washington.
“Mediocre politicians and networked terrorists have lined up from South Florida to heat up the streets of #Cuba with interventionist messages and calls for chaos. They didn’t have time,” Diaz-Canel told X.