Spanish chants filled the streets of Naples and Fort Myers on Tuesday evening, calling for “Libertad” and promoting “Patria y Vida” as Cuban and American flags fluttered in the Gulf breeze.
As Cubans continue a decades-long struggle for freedom, especially now amid the country’s worst economic crisis in decades, Cuban Americans and supporters stand nearly 300 kilometers south of the island with their friends, family and compatriots across southwest Florida.
In recent days there have been demonstrations in Golden Gate, Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral in support of the end of the communist regime in Cuba. The momentum continued Tuesday night as supporters gathered in downtown Naples for a Walk for Freedom, while the Walk for Cuba took place in downtown Fort Myers.
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The ascending one
“We have been bleeding for 62 years,” said Yaisel Aguilar from Naples, who defected from Cuba to Florida with her family in 1994.
The protests began on Sunday as thousands marched in the island’s largest cities – Cienfuegos, capital Havana, Holguin, Matanzas, Santa Clara and Santiago – expressing their frustration over the food and drug shortages, as well as the rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths expressed.
It is considered to be the largest anti-government movement in the country in the past 30 years.
In 1994, Cubans took to the streets of Havana during the Maleconazo uprising, which the late dictator Fidel Castro defeated. His response to the protest was to open Cuba’s maritime borders, which led to mass exodus.
Aguilar’s mother, a doctor on the island, made two attempts to escape when Aguilar was 8 years old. After they were first arrested, they succeeded after a 3-day, 4-day trip on a raft to Florida.
She found the march along Fifth Avenue South in Naples, which revealed a sea of more than 1,500 followers with Cuban flags and shirts stretching for five blocks, inspiring. But not quite as inspiring as the protesters in their homeland.
“I am so proud that the people of Cuba take to the streets,” said Aguilar. “We’re here tonight and we support them. You are just like us. They demand freedom and rights. “
Byron Donalds Launches Naples Walk for Freedom: “Continue the Sanctions”
The march was kicked off by a rally near Fifth Avenue attended by US MP Byron Donalds, who vowed that the US government stands with the Cuban people.
“Our constituency stands up for many things,” said Donalds. “And the only thing we always stand up for is freedom and freedom. It’s great that in my district you don’t need political leaders to get up. You do it yourself. It is an honor to be with you. “
Donalds said 62 years under the current regime had been far too long and it was time to end it. He explained what he and his colleagues in Washington will do to empower the Cuban people.
“Number one, continue the sanctions,” said Donalds. “I think some people’s attitude towards lifting sanctions is wrong. It will only strengthen the regime. If you look at Iran when we imposed the sanctions, it didn’t help the people. It empowered the regime. “
With Naples police vehicles showing the way and stopping traffic, the demonstrators’ parade called for “Freedom for Cuba” while some called for “Patria y Vida”, a song by Afro-Cuban reggaeton and hip-hop stars Miami, Youtuel Romero and Alexander Delgado and Cuban rappers Maykel Osorbo and El Funky from the speakers.
The song calls for “no more lies. My people demand freedom. No more doctrines. ”The expression” patria y vida “means” home and life “.
After driving down Fifth Avenue near the beach and on the way back, protesters marched up 9th Street South and back again while spectators cheered, gave thumbs up and even joined in.
During the Walk for Cuba in Fort Myers, protesters sing for freedom
The Fort Myers crowd, estimated by the police to be around 1,000, had gathered near the tidal basin around 6:30 p.m., listening as the organizers gathered the crowd with loudspeakers. Just after 8 p.m., the exuberant crowd marched up Hendry Street while the police watched. The very respectful crowd waved Cuban and American flags.
Gabi Rubio, a distant relative of Senator Marco Rubio of Lehigh Acres, just left the Fort Myers rally around 8 p.m. and said she was there to raise awareness and support.
“I hope the Americans help and I want the dictatorship to be gone,” she said. Rubio said she was half Cuban and half of her family, especially on her father’s side, were staying in Cuba.
Rubio helped with the translation for Raul and Idrania Martinez from Cape Coral, as the Cuban ex-patriots are doing. You have been here for 10 years and moving away from Havana.
Raul Martinez said he came to the US because he had a job here and it was quieter here than in Cuba.
Rafael Fernandez, who is from Holguin, Cuba, now lives in Cape Coral. He picked up a poster that read “Libertad” and said he just wanted the dictatorship to fall apart and people to become free.
Fort Myers police said the protesters were mostly peaceful, but some received verbal warnings when they lay down and blocked traffic near Victoria Avenue.
“We will be re-evaluating after tonight,” said Officer Kristin Capuzzi, FMPD Public Information Officer. “We don’t want to make arrests. We understand, the energy is getting high. “
A large group of Cuban-American protesters later also blocked traffic with a protest on I-75 northbound near Palm Beach Boulevard and Bayshore Road.
After the Lee County Sheriff’s Office helped Florida Highway Patrol close a section of the highway north from Palm Beach to Bayshore around 9 p.m., the crowd eventually dispersed, an FHP spokesman said, without making arrests came.
‘We take care’
Nancy Peck from Naples, who is not of Cuban descent, began traveling the island in 2013 and founded the non-profit Compassion for Cuba a few years later. She said it was now time for regime change.
“These people are hungry. You are starving, ”said Peck. “We just want them to know that Americans are not what their government represents to us. We take care of them. We want them to know that we love them. “
See similar https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/2021/07/13/cuba-protests-2021-naples-fort-myers-demonstrators-walk-support-cuban-freedom/7954487002/
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from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/protesters-in-naples-and-fort-myers-support-cuban-freedom/
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