Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) released a statement on Thursday, July 15, on the ongoing demonstrations by Cubans against worsening economic conditions, as recently reported by The New York Times and other outlets, including power outages, shortages of food and medicine, and spiking inflation.

 

“We are seeing Cubans rise up and protest for their rights like never before. We stand in solidarity with them, and we condemn the anti-democratic actions led by President Díaz-Canel,” the congresswoman said. “The suppression of the media, speech and protest are all gross violations of civil rights. We also must name the U.S. contribution to Cuban suffering: our sixty-year-old embargo. Last month, once again, the U.N. voted overwhelmingly to call on the United States to lift its embargo on Cuba.”

 

Ocasio-Cortez added, “The embargo is absurdly cruel and, like too many other U.S. policies targeting Latin Americans, the cruelty is the point. I outright reject the Biden administration’s defense of the embargo. It is never acceptable for us to use cruelty as a point of leverage against every day people.”

 

Earlier this week, on Monday, July 12, U.S. President Joe Biden had released his own statement on the protests, saying, “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.” He added, “The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights. Those rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected. The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves.”

 

According to the Council of Foreign Relations, in 2018, the United Nations estimated that U.S. trade restrictions had cost Cuba more than $130 billion since the embargo first began.

 

The Council of Foreign Relations wrote that the president has not lifted sanctions against Cuba that were reinstated under the Trump administration even though, as a candidate, Biden pledged to reverse Trump’s policies on Cuba, which he said did not advance human rights and democracy.

 

The Council also wrote that at the same time, some influential policymakers, including Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), have pressed the president to expand Trump-era sanctions, bolster Cuban internet access, and warn Havana against encouraging mass migration to U.S. shores.