CUBA | US, Facebook, promoting anti-Cuba protests says Bruno Rogriguez

HAVANA, Cuba, November 13, 2021 - The Government of Cuba is concerned that the United States Government will try to put a damper on its efforts to reopen the country to tourism and world trade on Monday November 15.

Cuba's Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez Parilla on Wednesday told foreign diplomats in Havana, that the United States had helped to underwrite and organize the protests in a bid to destabilize the government as it was trying to refloat the Cuban economy following the closure of its borders at the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

He said the script followed by the US government, is a desperate and foolish attempt to try to present Cuba as a failed state.

Rodriguez pointed to the role being played by social media platform Facebook, saying dissidents organized in groups on the platform had violated the social media platform's own policies, "altering logarithms, altering the geolocation mechanism to simulate the massive presence in Cuba of people with accounts that are known to reside outside our country, primarily in Florida and in the U.S. territory."

The Cuban Foreign Minister  claimed that Dissidents on the island, organized under a Facebook group called Archipielago, in September requested permission to conduct the rallies. Cuban authorities denied their request, alleging protesters were working with the United States to overthrow the government. Rodriguez said these practices violated both U.S. and international law.

“I have the duty to inform that private groups in Facebook not only carry out illegal activities in violation of Cuban laws, they even violate that platform´s own policies. They simulate the massive presence of individuals in Cuba that it´s known reside outside our country, fundamentally. As it has occurred in other parts of the world, Facebook can be sued because of these practices against Cuba,” he said.

According to Reuters, the Facebook group behind the protests, Archipielago, says it has 31,501 members, more than half of which it says reside in Cuba.

Cuban dissident leader Yunior Garcia, of Archipelago, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Rodriguez said since the announcement of the march, last September 22nd, US official spokespersons, as well as “Congress members Marco Rubio, Mario Díaz-Balart and María Elvira Salazar have issued 26 statements to date.”

The Cuban Foreign Minister said “the Cuban government cannot, while respecting its basic obligations, allow the United States to organize and promote a provocation like this. We have said so in a clear and direct manner to the US government, both through official and public channels.”

Just a few weeks ago, “it was revealed the USAID had granted US$6,669,000 million dollars to 12 organizations based in Florida, Washington and Madrid that deal with the anti-Cuban industry,”  said Rodriguez. “This allocation,” he told the diplomats,”was only a small portion of the funds allocated by the federal government, which was granted as recently as September, 2021.”

“There’s no law, at international level, or within Cuban national legislation, that avails US practice to finance actions and individuals to attempt against the constitutional order and the right of Cubans to peace and tranquility,” the Cuban Foreign Minister declared.

“It’s interesting that in the face of the expected failure to mobilize the Cuban people, there is now an attempt to mobilize factions in other parts of the world. There are threats against Cuban embassies, we’re not talking about large or representative groups. Just one individual, on April 30, 2020, attacked the Cuban embassy in Washington, with an assault firearm in a central avenue in that city,” he informed.

“During the pandemic, more than 60 sanctions have been imposed by the United States Government making the US blockade against Cuba more extraterritorial and genocidal. Cuba has the right to protect itself from US aggression and  it has the duty to safeguard the peace, stability and tranquility of the Cuban people that the US intends to alter,” Rodriguez noted.

As he concluded the meeting, the Cuban Foreign Minister asserted that: ” We are certain that the majority of the international community supports the right of Cuba to solve its problems in a peaceful manner; to overcome the economic challenges that affect Cuba families’ daily life, without foreign interference or aggression; to bolster the economic transformations we have proposed, with no artificial obstacles; to savor the moment during which the country opens, after overcoming the worst stage of the pandemic.”

“The US policy against Cuba is destined to fail. Wake up from that dream. It won't come true. It has not worked; it does not work and will never work,” Rodriguez concluded.

-30-