Amidst the COVID global pandemic, protests in Cuba continue. Cuba is currently experiencing the worst mass demonstrations since 1959. The island citizens took to the street on Sunday(7/11/21) protesting over the random blackouts, lack of food and medical supplies. The chants reverted to speaking against the current authoritarian government and the demand for the citizen’s freedom.

In 1959, the citizens took to the streets to protest the deteriorating economy and challenging times for the citizens. Cuban’s economy dropped by 35% in the 90s; this led to the riots of 1994, which did not run for long. Contemporarily the economy dropped by about 11% in 2020, and the government reduced the imports by 40%. However, the 1990 demonstrations were nothing close to the demonstrations which started on Sunday. Helping fuel the 2021 riots are the technological advancements that have played a primary role in mobilizing people in the island, Miami, and the U.S.A.

The current deteriorating economy as the tourist industry has been adversely affected by the pandemic, and the blackouts aggregated the protests Last year. Cuba had originally been able to control the pandemic, registering fewer deaths and creating their own vaccine(Abdala), which had passed several tests with about a 92.8% success rate. Nonetheless, the pandemic seems to be a threat in 2021 with infections spreading fast. Unfortunately, the citizens have limited resources like transportation to facilities, isolation supplies, and medical supplies.

As the protests in Cuba continue, the president blames the economic catastrophe on the U.S.A embargo, which restricted Cuban businesses and immigrations during Trump’s era. Although Biden promised to reform them, the issue has not been addressed. Biden has supported the protestors and urges the Cuban government to address the citizens’ laments. In contrast, Miami, recognized to harbor a significant number of Cuban exiles, continues to invoke the U.S.A to intervene in the situation by offering humanitarian and military aid as the Cuban president calls on the revolutionaries to counterfeit the demonstrators.