The Cuban government has summoned US Ambassador Benjamin Ziff to the foreign ministry, accusing Washington of instigating protests in Santiago de Cuba that saw hundreds take to the streets on Sunday. The demonstration, a rare public display of discontent against the communist government, was led by parents struggling to feed their children amid a worsening food crisis. Protesters chanted: 'Without electricity and food, the people get hot.'
Power cuts lasting up to 18 hours a day have made it nearly impossible to preserve food as summer approaches. Similar protests erupted in El Cobre and Bayamo, with smaller gatherings in Santa Marta and Matanzas. The US embassy urged the Cuban government to respect protesters' human rights, but a State Department spokesman called the accusation of US involvement 'absurd'.
Cuba is experiencing a severe economic slump, exacerbated by soaring inflation and a widening rich-poor divide. State-run bodegas, which provide rations of staples like rice, beans, and baby milk, are increasingly empty. While private shops have opened since small businesses were allowed, state salaries—as low as $10 a month at black market rates—make these goods unaffordable for most.
Beatriz Johnson, Santiago's communist party first secretary, addressed the crowd from a rooftop, promising a 'food basket' including rice and sugar. Her conciliatory tone contrasted sharply with the government's response to 2021 protests, which saw over 1,000 arrests. President Miguel Díaz-Canel blamed Sunday's protests on 'enemies of the revolution' and 'terrorists' in south Florida, while the government continues to cite the 64-year-old US trade embargo as the root cause of economic woes.
Beyond Havana, conditions are increasingly bleak. The Cuban peso traded at 325 to the dollar on Monday, against an official rate of 24. Gasoline prices have quintupled, and GDP is 10% below 2019 levels. Tourism from Europe and Canada, a key income source, is stagnating. In February, Economy Minister Alejandro Gil was dismissed for 'grave errors' and placed under investigation.
