Havana | On November 15, some want to celebrate the return of tourists, others to demonstrate for the release of political prisoners: in Cuba, the government and the opposition engage in an unprecedented showdown against a backdrop of tensions with the United States.
In recent weeks, both sides have been playing cat and mouse, with dissent first seeking permission to demonstrate on November 20, in seven of the island’s 15 provinces. The government then decreed this day as that of National Defense, preceded by two days of military exercises.
The organizers responded by advancing their project by five days, thus coinciding with the return to school of primary students and the reopening to tourism, after the closure due to the pandemic.
New response from the communist authorities: ban the demonstration, accused of wanting to bring about a change of regime with the support of Washington, and schedule festivities for the 502e Havana birthday.
“No one is going to spoil the party for us!” President Miguel Diaz-Canel said firmly to parliamentarians.
Not enough to give up the opposition: “We consider that this response was illegal, so it seems fair to us to insist with our demonstration”, explains to AFP Saily Gonzalez, 30, who organizes the protest in Santa Clara ( center).
Owner of a small hotel in this city famous for sheltering the remains of Che Guevara, she wants to follow up on the spontaneous and historical demonstrations which shook the island on July 11, with cries of “Freedom” and “We are hungry”.
“Gentle coup”
According to the NGO Cubalex, 1,175 people were arrested during these rallies which left one dead and dozens injured, and 612 remain in detention.
March 15, “we owe it to those who demonstrated on July 11 and are in prison today,” says Saily. Even if this time, there will no longer be the element of surprise.
Saily Gonzalez and playwright Yunior Garcia, 39, creator of the Archipiélago (Archipel) political debate group on Facebook and organizer of the demonstration in Havana, are accused by authorities of being paid by the US government for destabilization purposes . Both categorically deny it.
“My answer is to open my fridge,” which is almost empty due to food shortages on the island, Saily sighs to prove that she is not receiving any money, adding that the economic crisis is also the the driving force behind this call to demonstrate.
But President Diaz-Canel does not budge: “American diplomats frequently meet with the counterrevolutionary leaders. They provide them with guidance, motivation, logistical support and, directly or indirectly, finance their activities, ”he told MEPs.
The TV news accused Yunior Garcia of instigating a “soft coup” after receiving training abroad, relying on the testimony of a doctor who revealed to be an undercover agent of the state Cuban.
Yunior himself admitted receiving a call from the top official at the US Embassy in Havana, Timothy Zuñiga-Brown, but turning down his offer of help to prevent it from being used against him.
“Besieged”
For William Leogrande, professor at the American University in Washington and specialist in relations between Cuba and the United States, the embassy has always been “a channel for providing material assistance to Cuban dissidents”, and “this discredits all opponents ”, whether they benefit or not.
Confronted with a dissent re-energized by the recent arrival of the internet, but still considered illegal, “the Cuban government really feels besieged by the poor health of the economy, by the strengthening of the embargo and because the July 11 revealed the deep popular discontent ”.
What to fear his reaction: the last time he felt so threatened was in 2003 and 75 dissidents had ended up sentenced to heavy sentences, recalls the academic.
For Carlos Alzugaray, ex-Cuban diplomat, the government should have authorized the demonstration. “Both parties should have sought a compromise, tried to negotiate.”
But “obviously the United States is fully involved and this is detrimental to the demonstration and any effort at dialogue.”
However, he invites the Cuban authorities to “seek mechanisms and ways to make the political apparatus more open, more deliberative and less authoritarian”.
And also, to stop considering any criticism as a threat: “Personally, I have a lot of criticism of the government, economically and socially, but I don’t want to be associated with a regime change project! “