“Down with the chains”: Hundreds in Miami demand freedom for Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Under the slogan “Down with the chains”, hundreds of people rallied this Saturday (31) in Miami to demand freedom for Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela and international solidarity with the people who are repressed for opposing dictatorships.

Organized by the Miami Mayor’s Office, the event brought together Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and other Latin Americans at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami, as could be seen by the flags they were holding up along with signs with slogans such as “SOS Cuba”, “Patria y vida” and “Díaz Canel, surrender”.

The event, organized by the Miami Mayor’s Office, was also attended by artists, politicians, and leaders of exile organizations.

According to the organizers, the rally’s purpose was to unite “in one voice” those in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Their “cry” reaches those fighting for freedom in those countries and letting them know that they are not alone.

Also, they ask that this “cry” reach President Biden’s administration in Washington to help free those peoples, some participating politicians said.

“At this moment, Mr. President, you are either on the side of the people of Cuba or on the side of the regime,” said from the stage Republican Representative Mario Díaz-Balart, of Cuban origin.

Carlos Giménez, a member of the House of Representatives, a Republican of Cuban origin, reminded Biden that the United States must be “the leader of freedom in the hemisphere”.

His colleague Maria Elvira Salazar sent the president the message that Cubans “do not want food, vaccines or remittances, they want freedom.” “We have to give the Cuban people the possibility of returning to the streets,” she stressed.

Before taking the stage, Gimenez and Diaz-Balart spoke to the media at Bayfront Park to criticize Biden.

According to them, the president has not taken the side of the three peoples who demand democracy but of the regimes that repress them. The measures he has taken after the outbreak of protests in Cuba last July 11 are insufficient.

Orlando Gutiérrez, leader of the exile organization or Cuban Democratic Directorate, indicated that although the measures are “correct”, “much more must be done” for Cuba to reach freedom after 62 years of “dictatorship”.

Biden announced this Friday more sanctions against the Government of Cuba, this time against the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) and two of its leaders, after the protests of last July 11, and met at the White House with representatives of the Cuban community in the U.S., among them singer Yotuel and producer Emilio Estefan.

Giménez and Díaz-Balart said in a statement to the media during the rally that the president should meet, as he announced he would do, with the Republican congressmen of Cuban origin to know their point of view.

In his opinion, all options regarding the Cuban government should be on the table, including an intervention.

“No option can be ruled out, but in the meantime, we must continue to support our brothers on the island,” said Gutiérrez.

“We are not giving up, the final stage of this regime began on July 11, and we will continue until Cuba is free,” he added.

José Antonio Colina, president of Venezuelans Persecuted in Exile (Veppex), who also participated in the rally, said that in Venezuela, the only way to end the “dictatorship” is for them to unite in the streets and “call the attention” of the democratic governments of the world.

The event, which was expected to last several hours, will feature performances by artists such as Venezuela’s Eric Mestizo and Cuba’s Gente de Zona, Willy Chirino, Los 3 de La Habana, Albita, Hansel, and Malena Burke, either in person or through videos.