Tensions reaching a boiling point in Cuba
Hundreds of people participated Sunday in a rare public protest
amid a worsening economic crisis that has left everyday Cubans
without enough food,
electricity or medication. Cuban run TV showing people flooding the
streets of the island's second largest city,
Santiago de Cuba.
Demonstrators seem chanting for electricity and food as some Cubans
have experienced power outages for more than 18 hours a
day.
I think there are three crises going on at the
same time and an economic crisis,
a social crisis and now a political crisis.
The the of course the most important and the the
most difficult to solve
is the economic one. After the protest,
Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canal taking to social media saying,
quote mediocre politicians and terrorists on social media,
lined up from South Florida to fire up the streets
of Cuba.
the US Embassy in Havana urging Cuba's government to respect
the human rights of the protesters and address the legitimate
needs of the Cuban people.
But today, in response to the embassy,
Cuban's Foreign Ministry announcing it had summoned the top US
diplomat in Havana,
accusing the embassy of interfering in the nation's internal affairs.
The US has sanctioned Cuba for more than 60 years,
but in recent years they've been ratcheted up even more.
President Biden has stuck with so-called maximum pressure sanctions that
were imposed on this island during the Trump administration.
Economists say they cost Cuba billions of dollars a year.
Now, coupled with a moribund planned economy,
they've created a cash crunch.
Today, Cubans struggle with increasing shortages in food,
medicine, fuel and power. Inflation has risen sharply,
making many products unaffordable for Cubans,
who depend on an average monthly state salary,
the equivalent of just $16.00.
Earlier this month, gasoline price hikes also went into effect,
in some cases raising gas prices about
500%.
In another rare move, Cuba has asked the UN World
Food Programme for assistance requesting powdered milk for young children.
All this while the Cuban peso has plummeted.
Inflation has really gone crazy over the last couple of
years,
to the point where if your salary is entirely in
Cuban pesos,
its value has deteriorated about
90% compared to the US dollar.
In just the last two years,
demand has spiked for the US dollar,
leaving Cubans with limited options to live out their daily
lives.
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drastic measures in the face of uncertainty.
Younger Cubans have sort of lost hope in the possibility
that it's going to get better anytime soon.
And Ed Augustine joins us now from Havana,
Cuba. Eddie, you're there on the ground.
Walk us through what the reality is like in Cuba
with these power outages.
These power outages have been a reality for millions of
Cubans for years.
Now I'm broadcasting and I'm speaking to you from Havana,
where there are approximately 2 million people.
That's only about 1/5 of the population of Cuba,
4/5 of the Cuban population lives in the provinces
and we're far more insulated in Havana.
So sometimes the power goes to my house.
You know, I had a a power cut for about
an hour yesterday.
It's annoying, but it's but it's not a game changer.
In the provinces, millions of people have been living for
months
with power outages that can stretch sometimes 12,
sometimes 18 hours. I spoke to a source yesterday who
lives in the westerly province of Pina de Rio in
a small village.
He said that he had less than two hours of
power
yesterday. Just imagine getting back to your house after a
day at work
with no light and seeing the small amount of food
you have for you and your family
slowly going off in the fridge because there's not even
enough power to keep it refrigerated.
It's a, it's a very tense,
difficult situation for people. And,
Ed, the United States has responded to the allegations from
Havana that they've intervened with international affairs,
right? What are they saying?
Well, the Cuban allegation in general when they talk about
US,
what they'd say interference or meddling,
is that the sanctions are of themselves
a way of creating misery in Cuba.
You know that by by by reducing the amount of
money that the Cuban government has to spend on things
like food to feed people and petrol to keep the
power on, they are creating the context for these,
for these
protests and and and general popular discontent.
The US government rejects that.
The State Department today said that the accusation that Cuba
sorry that the that the United States government was behind
the protest was quote absurd and has roundly
rejected the the allegation. Ed Augustine,
thank you.