In July, Cuba experienced waves of protests throughout the island of citizens who were discontent with the way that the government was handling the COVID-19 pandemic and the political repression they face. The protests were unlike anything the small nation has seen since the Castro regime took power in 1959.
For weeks on end, shouts of “freedom for Cuba” and “down with Diaz Canel” could be seen in multiple videos from the island. Miguel Diaz Canel is the elected president of Cuba, but there is doubt from Cubans and critics of the regime of the legitimacy of his administration.
The protests in Cuba, which started in the middle provinces of the island, sparked fierce debate and protest in the United States with most protests in Miami.
The message of Cuba Libre – Spanish for “Free Cuba” – is an affective and progressive message that is as old as the nation itself. The call was first yelled during the Cuban War for Independence along with a declaration of who it was for: white and black, poor and rich, men and women. Although some groups are missing, at the time that was seen as everyone in Cuba. Cuba Libre was for everyone.
Cuban history has seen that promised betrayed as early as the first years of the new, sovereign Cuban government. The trend continued into governmental changes such as the ousting of Machado and the revolution of 1959.
Now Cuba Libre is being shouted once again in the streets of the island and all over the world, but is it really for everyone this time?
In Miami, SOS Cuba protests were accompanied by Trump flags and other imagery that is associated with oppression and the far right. In Washington D.C., Republicans were quick to condemn the human rights abuses in Cuba, yet they have been slow to investigate the insurrection. In Cuba, multiple videos of altercations between police and protesters featured heavy use of homophobic slurs.
The pattern here is that there is a toxic relationship between many of those who support human rights in Cuba and those who stomp out other’s human rights.
This paradox has led to the online dialogue about Cuba becoming transgressive, with some Twitter users even doubting the legitimacy of the protests in July, claiming they were part of a “CIA-backed coup”. This is because the issue of human rights in Cuba has largely become a stronghold for Republicans. Due to this, many who advocate for human rights in Cuba also happen to share views that are considered bigoted in America. Conservative advocates for cuban human rights tend to support harsh immigration policies, “Blue Lives Matter” and gov. DeSantis’ anti-protest bill.
In Cuba, where education is only propaganda for the regime, people are also bigoted and tend to be unaccepting of other sexualities, genders and even races. Although this is not true for all, it is the cultural norm.
Cuba Libre, due to these reasons, will not flourish soon. A movement cannot uphold human rights for some but not all. Cuba Libre includes white, black, asian, indigenous, straight, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual, poor, rich and middle-class people equally.
Anything else is not Cuba Libre.
