Cuban residents in Tenerife gathered this Sunday in Plaza de España in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, to denounce the structural crisis that is suffocating Cuba and to demand the end of the dictatorship.
The call gathered protesters who expressed their rejection of the Cuban regime and their concern for the situation faced by the population within the country, characterized by prolonged blackouts and shortages of food and medicine.
In a video about the protest, shared on Instagram by the user Roberlán Fariña, chants can be heard from the participants, including "If Cuba is in the street, so are we," repeated several times.
At the end of the gathering, shouts of "Long live a free Cuba!", "Down with the Castros!", "Down with Díaz-Canel!", and "Long live freedom, damn it!" could also be heard, while those attending the event in the center of the Tenerife capital waved Cuban flags and joined in the collective chants.
The coverage of the protest sparked debate on social media after some users questioned the approach taken by Radio Televisión Canaria, which, through a muted perspective, described the gathering as a call for greater international involvement regarding the blackouts and shortages in Cuba.
In the comments of the post, several participants emphasized that the protest had a broader purpose and that the demonstrators were openly demanding the end of the Cuban regime and the current political system on the island.
The concentration in Tenerife adds to other recent mobilizations led by Cubans in various Spanish cities.
On March 15, dozens of people demonstrated outside the Cuban consulate in Barcelona to express their opposition to the government of Havana and support the protests that have taken place within the country.
During that demonstration, slogans echoing support for Cuba's freedom and opposition to the regime were chanted, while some participants shared testimonies about the consequences of repression on the island.
Protests have also taken place in Madrid, where a group of Cubans gathered this Friday in front of the Spanish party Podemos headquarters to denounce what they consider the complicity of that political organization with the Cuban government, amid the controversy generated by the recent visit to Havana by the party's former leader Pablo Iglesias.
In parallel, Cubans living in other countries have carried out caravans, gatherings, and meetings of activists to demand political change on the island and to denounce the lack of freedoms.
These mobilizations coincide with a context of growing discontent within Cuba, where the population is facing frequent blackouts, food shortages, and an economic crisis that has sparked one of the largest migratory exoduses in the country's recent history.
Filed under: