Diaz-Canel Entourage Received with Shouts of "Shameless" and "Liar" in Regla

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 1 February 2019 — Residents of the municipality of Regla, in Havana, have rebuked the entourage of Miguel Diaz-Canel to the cries of “Shameless!” and “Liars!” The residents of one of the areas most affected by the tornado last Sunday have criticized the performance of the Cuban leader and have accused him of doing “propaganda, nothing more.”

In a short video shared on social media the crowd can be seen shouting at the presidential entourage, surrounded by a strong security operation, consisting of several Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The agents who guarded the procession hurried their steps in view of the complaints and shouts of dissent and quickly left the location.

Díaz-Canel’s government has been harshly criticized for selling food and construction materials to victims of the tornado. The meteorological phenomenon with winds in excess 180 miles per hour lashed the capital leaving 4 dead and several dozen injured.

The ruler has visited places affected by the tornado and boasted on Twitter of the unity of the people around “their leaders.”

This Thursday Zenaida Romeu, director of the prestigious Camerata Romeu, one of the most respected institutions of Cuban culture, reported on her Facebook account that she had been expelled by the Regla Police when she and 18 of her musicians tried to bring aid to the victims.

“It can’t be real that so many people are impeding and stopping a gesture of solidarity that is human, altruistic, beautiful, beneficial, a spontaneous characteristic of the best of the human being.” Instead, they urged us to leave and treated us as dangerous criminals. It is shameful,” Romeu wrote.

Díaz-Canel has denied Cuban exiles the possibility of establishing a humanitarian aid channel for the victims and the authorities have demanded that donations be made through an account managed by the Government.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

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