A State Department official claimed the ongoing Cuban anti-government protests are about COVID-19, rather than about the repressive communist regime, in a Sunday tweet.
“Peaceful protests are growing in Cuba as the Cuban people exercise their right to peaceful assembly to express concern about rising COVID cases/deaths & medicine shortages. We commend the numerous efforts of the Cuban people mobilizing donations to help neighbors in need,” Acting Assistant Secretary for U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Julie Chung wrote on Twitter. (RELATED: Anti-Government Protests Erupt Throughout Cuba, Demanding Freedom)
Peaceful protests are growing in #Cuba as the Cuban people exercise their right to peaceful assembly to express concern about rising COVID cases/deaths & medicine shortages. We commend the numerous efforts of the Cuban people mobilizing donations to help neighbors in need.
— Julie Chung (@WHAAsstSecty) July 11, 2021
Thousands of protestors have taken to the streets of Cuba in opposition to the communist regime. Videos show large crowds marching down the streets shouting “libertad” while waving the American flag. “Libertad” is Spanish for “freedom.”
Republican Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw responded to Chung on Twitter, writing, “No, they’re chanting LIBERTAD. Stop playing cover for communists and support the Cuban people.”
No they’re chanting LIBERTAD. Stop playing cover for communists and support the Cuban people. My god. Why is that so hard for you. https://t.co/gdJ3dC9SOl
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) July 12, 2021
“This is a ridiculous tweet from @StateDept,” Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Sunday on Twitter. “People in #Cuba are protesting 62 years of socialism, lies,tyranny & misery not ‘expressing concern about rising COVID cases/deaths.'”
This is a ridiculous tweet from @StateDept
People in #Cuba are protesting 62 years of socialism, lies,tyranny & misery not “expressing concern about rising COVID cases/deaths”
Why is it so hard for @potus & the people in his administration to say that? #SOSCuba #PatriaYVida https://t.co/vLt8SCUXeK pic.twitter.com/gP0KapjvnQ
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 12, 2021
“Why is it so hard for @potus & the people in his administration to say that?” he added.
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz added to the criticism on Twitter, writing “The Cuban people are fighting for freedom against an illegitimate tyrannical regime that is willing to torture and kill to stay in power. American leaders must say so and condemn the regime and its brutality – unequivocally.”
What is it with the Biden administration?
The Cuban people are fighting for freedom against an illegitimate tyrannical regime that is willing to torture and kill to stay in power.
American leaders must say so and condemn the regime and its brutality – unequivocally. https://t.co/QpXd4avfMU
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 12, 2021
“We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Monday.