Cuba Slams US Manipulation amid Recent Unrest
By Staff, Agencies
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez held the United States responsible for stirring up violence in his country, saying Washington is using high-tech digital systems to incite protests in the Caribbean island nation.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Rodriguez said Washington sought to generate disorder and instability to fracture the constitutional order and social consensus in Cuba and the harmony of Cubans through the use of powerful and sophisticated instruments.
He condemned the campaign promoted from US soil through social media to promote riots and destabilizing acts, warning that such irresponsible conduct could have negative implications for the region and even harm the national interests of the US.
Rodriguez said that political circles controlling Washington's Cuba policy had taken advantage of the harsh conditions generated by the coronavirus pandemic, adding that they had used lies, slander, and manipulation of facts to provoke people.
He said a large-scale anti-Cuba communication operation had been underway since June 23, when Havana presented the report 'Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America on Cuba' at the United Nations General Assembly.
The operation includes calls for violence, aggression against the authorities, and the assassination of leaders and promotes the irregular migratory flow, the minister added.
Rodriguez also denounced the so-called “SOS Cuba” campaign promoted on social networks as one of manipulation, warning that the campaign calls for a humanitarian intervention in Cuba, which means a US military intervention that is against international and Cuban laws.
The social media campaign is reminiscent of many other regime change programs directed by the United States, including the 2019 coup d’état against Bolivian President Evo Morales and an attempted coup against President Maduro in Venezuela.
Protest rallies erupted against Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel’s government over the weekend. Thousands took to the streets in major cities demanding his resignation amid a worsening economic crisis.
The unrest comes at a time when Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis in 30 years, with chronic shortages of electricity and food exacerbated by hefty US sanctions.
The Cuban government blames the economic woes mainly on US sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic.
The president says the tightening US sanctions in recent years have led to a shortage in medicine, power outages, and other economic difficulties.
The US has maintained a harsh economic, financial, and commercial embargo against Cuba for more than 60 years. Numerous resolutions by the United Nations General Assembly have indicated that the blockade is against international law.
