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The Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez stated in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País that during the protests on July 11, 2021, "the law enforcement forces should have guaranteed the safety of those who were protesting," thus avoiding any questioning of the use of force employed by police and State Security agents against the civilian population.
The statement contrasts with the documented repression of those days, following the moment when the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel ordered on television "revolutionaries to the streets".
It has been confirmed that at least one person—Diubis Laurencio Tejeda, 36 years old—was killed in the La Güinera neighborhood of Havana. Additionally, nearly 1,500 people were arrested, with more than 700 processed and sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.
Rodríguez has a history of ambiguous positions regarding the repression of 11J: in July 2021, he called for amnesty for "non-violent" prisoners.
In March 2022, he expressed disagreement with the harsh sentences imposed on the demonstrators. "As far as I know, they didn't kill anyone. Sentences of 15, 20, and 30 years for public disorder? That doesn't seem fair to me," he wrote at the time.
This week's interview, conducted at the Ojalá studios in Havana, is the first time Rodríguez addresses his stance on the 11J, the controversial incident involving the AKM rifle, and the current crisis in Cuba.
The 79-year-old singer-songwriter acknowledged structural errors in the economic model: "There are economic issues that we should have approached differently for the past 30 years," and described classical socialism as "very idealistic."
Regarding the protests shaking Cuba since March 6, stemming from power outages of up to 20 hours daily following the collapse of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, food shortages, and rampant inflation, Rodríguez was straightforward: "It's normal, people are having a very hard time. There is tremendous inflation; old folks like me, with a lifetime of savings, sometimes can't even afford a dozen eggs."
The interview comes days after the controversial event on March 20, in which the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces presented him with a replica of an AKM rifle in the presence of Díaz-Canel, in response to a message that Rodríguez published on his blog Segunda Cita: "I demand my AKM if they launch it. And let me be clear, I am very serious about this."
The gesture was a reaction to the statements made by Donald Trump and Marco Rubio regarding possible actions against Cuba.
Rodríguez clarified in the interview that the weapon received is "a very well-made imitation," although he specified that he was provided with a document to obtain a real weapon in the event of an invasion.
Your order for the weapon generated widespread rejection among Cubans and dissidents.
The leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, José Daniel Ferrer called him "coward" and "hypocrite", while the artist Gessliam Suárez labeled him a "traitor" and "old fool" used for regime propaganda.
Regarding the possibility of a U.S. military intervention, Rodríguez did not rule it out: "I see it as possible. I hope it is not imminent and even impossible, but it is possible."
And regarding those who support that option, he was blunt: "I’m not going to tell you what I think of those who want their own country to be bombed and invaded."
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