Trump says Biden must 'stand up' to Cuba and mocks Obama for watching baseball with Castro while regime 'imprisoned, beat, and killed the Cuban people' - as White House dodges question on whether COVID sparked huge protests
Former President Donald Trump pressed President Joe Biden to 'stand up' to the Cuban government on Monday and mocked ex-President Barack Obama for attending a baseball game with Raul Castro 'while they imprisoned, beat, and killed the Cuban people.'
In a statement Trump pointed out that 'big demonstrations are breaking out in Cuba and Miami in protest of the Communist Cuban Government (although, today there are zero protesters in Cuba—you know what that means!)' Trump wrote.
'Don’t forget that Biden and the Democrats campaigned on reversing my very tough stance on Cuba,' he continued. 'Remember when Obama attended baseball games with Castros while they imprisoned, beat, and killed the Cuban people.'
Trump said he stood with the Cuban people '100 per cent' and urged Biden to act.
'Joe Biden MUST stand up to the Communist regime or—history will remember,' Trump said. 'The Cuban people deserve freedom and human rights! THEY ARE NOT AFRAID!'
During Obama's tenure, the Democrat tried to open up relations with Cuba - even visiting the country in 2016 where he attended a baseball game with Castro, then the country's president.
Trump reversed the Obama-era policy - with Biden pledging to go back to it. Biden, however, hasn't taken any action yet.
Trump's statement came after White House press secretary Jen Psaki dodged questions on why a State Department official tweeted that the protests were directly tied to COVID-19 concerns.
Former President Donald Trump released a statement Monday on the situation in Cuba saying that President Joe Biden must 'stand up' to the Communist Cuban government
Trump also mocked former President Barack Obama for watching baseball with then Cuban President Raul Castro. Obama visited Cuba in 2016 as his administration tried to thaw relations with the Communist country
Julie Chung, the acting assistant secretary of the department's Buruea of Western Hemisphere Affairs tweeted Sunday, 'Peaceful protests are growing in Cuba as the Cuban people exercise their right to peaceful assembly to express concern about rising COVID cases/deaths & medicine shortage.'
'We commend the numerous efforts of the Cuban people mobilizing donations to help neighbors,' she added.
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, then tweeted, 'This is a ridiculous tweet from @StateDept.'
'People in #Cuba are protesting 62 years of socialism, lies, tyranny & misery not "expressing concern about rising COVID cases/deaths,"' he wrote. 'Why is it so hard for @potus & the people in this administration to say that.'
Police tape was put up in front of the Cuban Capitol in Havana on Monday after Sunday's protests. Trump said in his statement: 'today there are zero protesters in Cuba—you know what that means!' hinting at a government crackdown
Police cars are seen overturned in the street Sunday in Havana, Cuba after thousands participated in demonstrations against President Miguel Diaz-Canel
Demonstrators outside the White House Monday show off the Cuban flag joining thousands over the weekend that protested in solidarity with the Cuban people
A woman holds a sign ordering 'Castros Out' as demonstrators march on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House in Washington Monday
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, also hammered the tweet.
'No they’re chanting LIBERTAD. Stop playing cover for communists and support the Cuban people. My god. Why is that so hard for you,' Crenshaw wrote.
When asked about Chung's tweet at Monday's White House press briefing, Psaki pointed out first that the protests 'were just happening yesterday.'
'We're still assessing what is motivating and of course is driving all these individuals who came to the streets,' she said.
Psaki said that the way the Cuban people are governed they could be discontent about a number of things including 'economic suppression, media suppression, lack of access to health and medical supplies, including vaccines - there are a range of reasons and voices we're hearing from people on the ground who are protesting.'
Fox News' Peter Doocy pointed out that most of the protesters are 'yelling freedom' and again asked how that could be interpreted as a demonstration against rising COVID cases.
Republicans reacted negatively to a tweet from Julie Chung, the acting assistant secretary of the department's Buruea of Western Hemisphere Affairs, who linked the protests in Cuban to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the country
Sen. Marco Rubio hammered Julie Chung's tweet calling it 'ridiculous' and saying the Cuban people were actually protesting '62 years of socialism, lies, tyranny & misery'
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, reacted to Chung's tweet by saying, 'Stop playing cover for communists and support the Cuban people. My god. Why is that so hard for you'
Press secretary Jen Psaki defended Chung's tweet from the podium Monday saying that the Cuban people could be discontent about a number of things including 'economic suppression, media suppression, lack of access to health and medical supplies, including vaccines'
'Again I would say that when people are out there in the streets protesting and complaining about the lack of access to economic prosperity, to the medical supplies that they need, to a life they deserve to live - that can take on a range of meanings,' Psaki said. 'There's a global pandemic right now. Most people in that country don't have access to vaccines. That's certainly something we'd love to help with.'
Other lawmakers simply tweeted in support of the Cuban people.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, encouraged the Biden administration to get involved.
'President Biden, freedom in #Cuba needs you now!' he wrote. 'Don’t be AWOL.'
House Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican who represents the Miami area, said the protests were the 'beginning of the end' of the Communist regime and that a 'perfect storm' presented an opportunity for the government to be toppled.
House Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona, tweeted: 'It's time for the Cuban regime to step down and let Democracy flourish in Cuba.'
Sen. Lindsey Graham encouraged the Biden administration to get involved, telling the White House not to be 'AWOL'
Rubio also tweeted: 'I am asking President Joe and Secretary of State Antony to call on members of the Cuban military to not fire on their own people.
'The incompetent communist party of #Cuba cannot feed or protect the people from the virus.
'Now those in the military must defend the people not the communist party.'
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, also a Republican, tweeted: 'Florida supports the people of Cuba as they take to the streets against the tyrannical regime in Havana.
'The Cuban dictatorship has repressed the people of Cuba for decades & is now trying to silence those who have the courage to speak out against its disastrous policies.'
Another prominent Republican, Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, tweeted: 'The human heart wants to be free. This is as true in Cuba as it is in America.
'I stand with my friend Senator Rubio and all Cubans looking to throw off the yoke of Communism and join the free world.'
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California tweeted: 'After decades of suffering through a communist dictatorship, the Cuban people deserve liberty.
'I am proud to stand in solidarity with the people of Cuba who are calling out for freedom.'
House Rep. Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, tweeted: 'America stands with the people of Cuba as they fight for their freedom from a tyrannical government.
'Socialism has failed everywhere it's been tried. We can't let America become another failed socialist experiment.'
Scalise ended the tweet with the hashtags #SOSCuba and #FreedomOverSocialism.'
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez appeared at a demonstration in the Little Havana section of Miami, where hundreds gathered outside the famous Cuban Versailles restaurant to denounce the Communist regime on the island.
'Cubans are worthy and ready to rule themselves without tyranny,' Miami's mayor said on Sunday. 'It can end today and it must end today. The implications of this moment can mean freedom for millions of people in the hemisphere, from Nicaraguans and Venezuelans and so many more.'
President Joe Biden said Monday that he stands with the 'remarkable' Cuban protesters and 'their clarion call for freedom.'
'The Cuban people are demanding their freedom from an authoritarian regime. I don't think we've seen anything like these protests in a long long time if, quite frankly ever,' the president said at the top of a meeting in the Roosevelt Room. 'The US stands firmly with the people of Cuba as they assert their universal rights. And we call on the government of Cuba to refrain from violence in their attempt to silence the voices of the people of Cuba.'
In a statement earlier Biden said, 'We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba's authoritarian regime.'
He said the protests represented the Cuban people 'asserting fundamental and universal rights.'
'Those rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected,' the president continued.
'The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves,' Biden added.
THE LARGEST PROTESTS FOR NEARLY 30 YEARS
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Cuba in 'unprecedented' demonstrations.
On the Communist-run island, mass protests are rare as public dissent is usually restricted and demonstrators risk ending up in prison.
But in the past year or so, Cuba has seen a growing number of protests - although nothing on this scale or simultaneously in so many cities.
In November last year, a group of around 300 members and allies of a dissident artists collective in Havana protested against restrictions on civil liberties, the island's economic crisis and growing inequality.
But the protests were quelled by Cuba's government after the Culture Ministry accused the artists of being financed by the United States and providing 'propaganda support' for the country.
In June last year, a group of Cubans said that state security agents had staked out their homes to prevent them from attending planned protests over the police killing of a young black man.
No would-be protesters appeared able to make it to the site of what was supposed to be the main demonstration against the killing of 27-year-old Hansel Hernandez in Havana which was full of security forces at the time.
Ahead of the planned protest, Cuban authorities harassed and detained scores of people, and accused some of the crime of 'spreading an epidemic', reports Human Rights Watch.
The current anti-government demonstrations are the largest since the summer of 1994, said Michael Bustamante, an assistant professor of Latin American history at Florida International University.
'Only now, they weren't limited to the capital; they didn't even start there, it seems,' Bustamante said, as the protests broke out on Sunday in the San Antonio de los Banos municipality in Artemisa Province, bordering Havana.
On Sunday, protesters chanted 'Freedom', 'Enough' and 'Unite'.
And almost 27 years ago, on August 5, 1994, hundreds of Cubans marched through the streets of Havana chanted the same slogan of 'Freedom'.
The police and paramilitaries shot unarmed protesters and beat them down with batons, according to the NGO Cuba Center.
Cuban authorities are often quick to shut down protests while politicians and the island's official state media often discredit anti-government protesters by saying they are supporters of the United States.
But on Sunday, the protests saw an unprecedented number of demonstrators taking to the streets simultaneously.
US Senator Marco Rubio tweeted that Sunday was 'a historic day of unprecedented protests going on against socialism in Cuba'.
The Republican later shared a video of hundreds of people in front of the National Capitol building in Havana and said: 'We have never seen a day like today in Cuba.
'62 years of misery, repression and lies boiling over into organic, grassroots protests in over 32 cities.'
A man is arrested during a demonstration against the government of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana on Sunday
Thousands of Cubans took part in rare protests Sunday against the Communist government, marching through a town chanting 'Down with the dictatorship' and 'We want liberty'. The image above shows Cubans in Havana on Sunday
The protests on Sunday represented the the biggest anti-government demonstrations on the Communist-run island in decades.
The images of protests in Cuba that have gone viral on social media prompted officials in the United States to call for an American-led intervention to topple the ruling government in Havana.
Cubans marched on Havana's Malecon promenade and elsewhere on the island to protest food shortages and soaring inflation, which some economists believe could hit 900 percent this year.
Many young people took part in the afternoon protest in the capital, which disrupted traffic until police moved in after several hours and broke up the march when a few protesters threw rocks.
Special forces vehicles, with machine guns mounted on the back, were seen throughout the capital and the police presence was heavy even long after most protesters had gone home by the 9pm curfew in place due to the pandemic.
Police initially trailed behind as protesters chanted 'Freedom,' 'Enough' and 'Unite.' One motorcyclist pulled out a US flag, but it was snatched from him by others.
Meanwhile, the US State Department drew criticism after claiming that Cubans were protesting 'rising COVID cases' rather than shortages of basic goods and curbs on civil liberties.
Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union, along with a resurgence of coronavirus cases, as it suffers the consequences of US sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.
It comes months after six decades of the Castro family dominating Cuban politics ended with 89-year-old Raul Castro relinquishing the country's most powerful position - that of party first secretary - to Miguel Diaz-Canel, Cuba's president.
In an address to the country, Cuban President Diaz-Canel, who also heads the Communist Party, blamed the United States for the unrest in a nationally televised speech on Sunday afternoon.
'We are prepared to do anything. We will be battling in the streets,' Diaz-Canel said.
The Cuban government has blamed the island's worsening economic crisis on U.S. sanctions, while Russia and Mexico have condemned 'outside interference' in an apparent swipe against Biden's administration.
'There's every indication that yesterday's protests were spontaneous expressions of people who are exhausted with the Cuban government's economic mismanagement and repression,' Psaki said Monday. 'And these are protests inspired by the harsh realities of everyday life in Cuba, not people in another country - I'm saying that because I think there have been a range of accusations out there.'
Special forces jeeps, with machine guns mounted on the back, were seen in Havana and Diaz-Canel called on supporters to confront 'provocations.'
Security forces loyal to the government detain a protester in Havana, Cuba, on Sunday
Demonstrators are seen above protesting on the streets of Havana on Sunday
SANCTIONS AND COVID CAUSE ECONOMY TO FREEFALL
Cubans are now taking to the streets to protest against the island's economic crisis, restrictions on civil liberties and the government's handling of the pandemic.
The Caribbean island has been experiencing a worsening economic crisis for two years, which the government blames mostly on U.S. sanctions imposed by the Trump administration and the pandemic, while its detractors cite incompetence and a Soviet-style one-party system.
A combination of sanctions, inefficiencies and the pandemic has shut down tourism and slowed other foreign revenue flows in a country dependent on them to import the bulk of its food, fuel and inputs for agriculture and manufacturing.
The economy contracted 10.9 per cent last year, and 2 per cent through June of 2021. The resulting cash crunch has spawned shortages that have forced Cubans to queue for hours for basic goods such as food and medicine throughout the pandemic.
The acute supply shortages further stressed an already weak economy. In 2020, the government officials called on Cubans to grow more of their food, reports Amnesty International.
The American economic embargo of Cuba has been blamed for the island's worsening economic crisis - and the coronavirus pandemic has made this worse.
The Trump administration imposed policies that tightened economic, commercial and financial sanctions and restricted travel by U.S. citizens in a blow to Cuba's tourism sector, which caused the country to record losses estimated at around $5 billion.
Last month, the U.S. voted against a UN resolution that overwhelmingly condemned the American economic embargo of Cuba.
Before the vote, the U.S. Mission's political coordinator, Rodney Hunter, told the assembly that the Biden administration voted 'no' because the United States believes sanctions are key to advancing democracy and human rights which 'remain at the core of our policy efforts toward Cuba.'
The economic embargo was imposed in 1960 following the revolution led by Fidel Castro and the nationalization of properties belonging to U.S. citizens and corporations. Two years later it was strengthened.
Former Cuban President Raul Castro and then-President Barack Obama officially restored relations in July 2016, and that year the U.S. abstained on the resolution calling for an end to the embargo for the first time.
But Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, sharply criticized Cuba’s human rights record, and in 2017 the U.S. again voted against the resolution.
The move by Biden last month now means the government will maintain the Trump administration’s opposition.
Hundreds of Cuban emigres gathered in the Little Havana section of Miami to stage a protest in solidarity with anti-government demonstrators on the island
Singer Yotuel Romero addresses protesters gathered in front of the Versailles restaurant in Miami as they show support for the people in Cuba who have taken to the streets to protest
A man is arrested during a demonstration against the government of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana on Sunday
A pro-government protester is seen during a demonstration against the government of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana on Sunday
Cuban police detain an anti-government demonstrator during a protest in Havana on Sunday
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel walks accompanied by supporters in San Antonio de los Banos on Sunday
Diaz-Canel called on his supporters to take to the streets as a response to the protest against his government
Thousands of people gathered in downtown Havana and along parts of the seaside drive amid a heavy police presence.
There were a few arrests and scuffles, but no major confrontations.
The protests broke out in San Antonio de los Banos municipality in Artemisa Province, bordering Havana, with video on social media showing hundreds of residents chanting anti-government slogans and demanding everything from coronavirus vaccines to an end to daily blackouts.
'I just walked through town looking to buy some food and there were lots of people there, some with signs, protesting,' local resident Claris Ramirez said by phone.
'They are protesting blackouts, that there is no medicine,' she added.
Diaz-Canel, who had just returned from San Antonio de los Banos, said many protesters were sincere but manipulated by US-orchestrated social media campaigns and 'mercenaries' on the ground, and warned that further 'provocations' would not be tolerated.
Diaz-Canel is seen during a demonstration held by citizens in San Antonio de los Banos on Sunday
Plainclothes police officers detain a person during protests outside the Capitol building in Havana on Sunday
Cuban demonstrators face down members of the security services in Havana on Sunday
Thousands are seen marching in the streets of the Cuban capital on Sunday
Cubans in the town of San Antonio de los Banos gather to meet with the Cuban president on Sunday
A man is arrested during a demonstration against the government of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana on Sunday
Cubans under the effects of tear gas take part in a demonstration against the government of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in front of Havana's Capitol
There were protests later on Sunday hundreds of miles to the east in Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba, where social media video showed hundreds marching through the streets, again confirmed by a local resident.
'They are protesting the crisis, that there is no food or medicine, that you have to buy everything at the foreign currency stores, and on and on the list goes,' Claudia Perez said.
'We are calling on all the revolutionaries in the country, all the Communists, to hit the streets wherever there is an effort to produce these provocations,' Diaz-Canel said in his broadcast remarks.
The Communist-run country has been experiencing a worsening economic crisis for two years, which the government blames mainly on US sanctions and the pandemic, while its detractors cite incompetence and a Soviet-style one-party system.
The demonstration in Havana grew to a few thousand in the vicinity of Galeano Avenue and the marchers pressed on despite a few charges by police officers and tear gas barrages.
People standing on many balconies along the central artery in the Centro Habana neighborhood applauded the protesters passing by. Others joined in the march.
Hundreds of Cuban emigres gathered in the Little Havana section of Miami to stage a protest in solidarity with anti-government demonstrators on the island
Several of the protesters waved Cuban and American flags as well as signs calling on the US to send forces to the island
One demonstrator in Miami holds a Cuban flag with the words 'Anti-Communist' written on it
Cuban expats in Miami rally against the Communist government in Havana on Sunday
Cuban expats in Miami saw viral images circulating on social media showing protesters taking to the streets of Cuba on Sunday
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is seen above alongside Cuban exiles at a rally in the Little Havana section of the city on Sunday
A protester in Miami holds a sign that reads: 'U.S. Southern Command Please help my people in Cuba'
A protester holds the Cuban flag over his head during a demonstration in the Little Havana section of Miami
Cuban expats in South Florida wave their native country's flag during a demonstration against the Communist government on Sunday
Jorge Lieva holds a sign calling on President Joe Biden to 'help Cuba' on Sunday
Jorge Hechavarria holds a sign that reads 'SOS Cuba' during a demonstration in the Little Havana section of Miami on Sunday
Although many people tried to take out their cellphones and broadcast the protest live, Cuban authorities shut down internet service throughout the afternoon.
About two-and-a-half hours into the march, some protesters pulled up cobblestones and threw them at police, at which point officers began arresting people and the marchers dispersed.
A group of government supporters also arrived in the area shouting slogans in favor of the late President Fidel Castro and the revolution. Some of them assaulted a cameraman and an AP photographer.
DÃaz-Canel had been touring San Antonio de los Banos, where people protested power outages. He entered a few homes and he took questions from residents.
Afterward, though, he accused Cuban-Americans of stirring up trouble.
'As if pandemic outbreaks had not existed all over the world, the Cuban-American mafia, paying very well on social networks to influencers and Youtubers, has created a whole campaign ... and has called for demonstrations across the country,' Diaz-Canel told reporters.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez echoed the president's comments.
'President @DiazCanelB is in San Antonio de los Baños with the revolutionary people that are mobilized against the imperialist campaign and its salaried agents,' he wrote on Twitter.
'We appreciate the international solidarity and support of Cubans living abroad #EliminatetheBlockade.'