HAVANA– The Cuban government protested on Monday against interventionist comments from the US embassy on the island after demonstrations against power outages and food shortages by hundreds of people in eastern Cuba.
The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs has handed over a note to the Chargé d’Affaires of the US Diplomatic Mission in Havana, Benjamin Ziff.
On Sunday, demonstrators took to the streets in the eastern city of Santiago, decrying power outages that could last up to eight hours and food shortages. State media confirmed the protests in Santiago, while the US embassy in Havana said there were also reports of protests in a number of other provinces on the island.
Videos of people chanting “electricity and food” were quickly shared by Cubans on and off the island on platforms like X and Facebook. A non-governmental human rights organization that monitors Cuba said at least three arrests had been made.
The US Embassy urged the Cuban government to respect the protests in a message on its Facebook page.
“We urge the Cuban government to respect the human rights of the protesters and to pay attention to the legitimate needs of the Cuban people,” the report said.
On Monday, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío, speaking to The Associated Press, called the comments “disrespectful” and an “open interference in Cuba’s internal affairs.”
“It was also cynical, as we have said publicly, and hypocritical because it referred to issues happening in Cuba where the US government has an important role and responsibility,” Fernández de Cossío said, referring to the long-standing US embargo on the US government. Island.
Cuba is facing one of the worst economic and energy crises in its history. Waves of power outages have worsened in recent weeks, adding to frustrations over food shortages and inflation, making it increasingly difficult to make ends meet on the communist-ruled island. Hundreds of thousands of people have migrated, many of them heading to the United States.
