Cuban Government Admits One Death in Protests That Began on Sunday

So far there is no official number of arrests for the protests. (14ymedio)

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14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 13 July 2021 — After several complaints from civil society and Cubans on social networks, the Government of the Island acknowledged the first death in the protests of recent days. The deceased is a 36-year-old citizen who participated in a demonstration that took place this Monday at the La Güinera Popular Council, in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, in the Cuban capital.

The victim, identified as  Diubis Laurencio Tejeda, was killed during a clash between protesters and security forces, the Interior Ministry said in a note. In addition to the deceased, “several citizens were arrested” and others “suffered injuries,” including “law enforcement officials.”

Monday’s protest in La Güinera, one of the most depressed areas of Havana, was broadcast in several videos through social networks, despite the fact that the Government has kept the internet connection cut off since Sunday.

The images only show dozens of people advancing through the streets shouting slogans such as “Libertad” [Freedom] and “un pueblo unido jamás será vencido” [a people united will never be defeated].

According to the version of the Ministry of the Interior, the protesters “altered order and tried to head towards the National Revolutionary Police Station in that territory, with the aim of attacking its troops and damaging the facility.”

Other videos shared on social networks detail several dead, injured, detained and missing. It is not known precisely how many or where, because the internet and telephone lines are cut off in Cuba, but little by little, via encrypted channels, messaging and social networks, the toll of the repression against the popular uprising is becoming known.

So far there is no official number of arrests, but activists on the island have released a list that includes, at the moment, about 120 people. Among them are prominent activists, artists and journalists, such as Jose Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), Manuel Cuesta MoruaLuis Manuel Otero AlcantaraAmaury PachecoCamila Acosta, and Henry Constantin.

Civil society has also warned that apart from these 120 people, some 5,000 have been imprisoned or are being investigated after the days of protest against the Cuban dictatorship.

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