(La Havane) Cuba a convoqué lundi le représentant diplomatique américain à La Havane pour se plaindre de l’« ingérence » des États-Unis après les manifestations qui ont secoué l’île communiste dimanche, pour lesquelles Washington nie toute implication.
Des centaines de manifestants sont descendus dans les rues de Santiago de Cuba, deuxième ville du pays, ou Bayamo, où les habitants ont été privés d’électricité à plusieurs reprises ces derniers jours, parfois 14 heures durant.
Le président cubain Miguel Diaz-Canel a immédiatement mis en garde contre « les ennemis de la Révolution » qui exploitent ce contexte, fustigeant « des terroristes basés aux États-Unis […] which encourage actions to destabilize the country.”
On Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio “officially conveyed” to American Charge d’Affaires Benjamin Ziff “the firm rejection of the interference and slanderous messages from the American government and its embassy in Cuba concerning “Cuban internal affairs,” the Cuban ministry said in a statement.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez had already urged Washington not to “interfere in the internal affairs of the country” after the publication on Sunday by the United States Embassy in Cuba of a message on X calling “ the Cuban government to respect the rights […] demonstrators and to respond to the legitimate needs of the Cuban people.”
On Monday, US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel dismissed the “absurd” Cuban accusations.
“I think what we are seeing is a reflection of the dire situation that reigns on the island,” he stressed, urging “the Cuban government to refrain from any violence and any unjust detention.”
Since the beginning of March, Cuba has been facing a new wave of outages due to maintenance work on the island’s largest thermoelectric power plant, located about a hundred kilometers east of Havana.
The problem was compounded over the weekend by the fuel shortage affecting the entire country, with fuel needed to power other operational thermoelectric plants.
Sunday’s demonstration is the largest since those of 2022 when the island experienced daily power outages which had already provoked protests in several provinces as well as in Havana.
Nearly three years ago, Cuba experienced major anti-government protests after months of confinement and absence of tourists.
On July 11, 2021, thousands of Cubans demonstrated in an unprecedented way, shouting “We are hungry!” » or “Down with dictatorship!” “. Hundreds of protesters were sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.