Press Release
Diaz-Canel condemns assassination attempt and violence in the United States yet in Cuba he continues to use violence, and murder nonviolent dissidents to maintain power: “Cuban dictatorship cannot play the victim.”
Terrorism: The Cuban Connection https://youtu.be/8csvt5mOv28
Contacts: John Suarez (612) 367-6845 y Janisset Rivero (786) 208-6056
Center for a Free Cuba, July 15, 2024, Washington, DC. Declarations made by Miguel Diaz-Canel in reference to the attempt on former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump, contradicts the current reality in Cuba. Havana has utilized violence and state terrorism against its citizens for 65 years, assassinating, disappearing, attacking, and imprisoning for the simple act of dissenting.
“We just observed the third anniversary of major protests in Cuba on July 11, 2021, where government agents murdered, arrested, tried and imprisoned people who engaged in nonviolent protest in Cuba after Diaz-Canel issued “the order of combat.” The number of extrajudicial executions as a result of these occurrences remains unknown. Furthermore, July 13 marks 30 years since the 13 de Marzo Tugboat massacre, when the forces of the government, Diaz-Canel now represents, utilized high pressure hoses and various vessels to attack, sink and murder 37 Cubans, 10 of which were children, who only wanted to leave Cuba and live in freedom. Diaz-Canel, representing the Cuban dictatorship, cannot claim to be a victim of violence when the regime he represents is one of the worst perpetrators,” said John Suárez, Executive Director of the Center for a Free Cuba.
The Cuban state has used violence as a fundamental weapon to maintain itself in power since January 1959. The dictatorship came to power through armed struggle, and has continued to use violence against its citizens, but it has also promoted and supported international terrorism, providing training and logistical support to terrorist groups such as the FARC, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, the ETA, besides providing refuge for fugitives from the United States and other countries that committed terrorist acts which took human lives, cannot present itself as nonviolent.
Vigilia en la FIU el 13 de julio de 2024
“In Washington DC a vigil was held in front of the Cuban Embassy this past Wednesday on July 10th to pray for the victims of repression in Cuba and demand justice and truth. In Miami, 30 years after the tugboat massacre a Mass was held in Our Lady of Charity which included survivors, and a vigil of 13 minutes of silence in Florida International University on Saturday, July 13th to observe this somber date. In addition, on Friday, July 12th, the ashes of Jorge Garcia, who lost 14 family members in this crime against humanity and documented this crime was buried”, said Janisset Rivero, program officer at the Center.
Videos of the burial of the ashes of Jorge Garcia: https://youtu.be/rDG8UcezlLo?si=9jagYyHrt6o-cAjx
The Center for a Free Cuba encourages people with goodwill to express their solidarity with the center by signing the petition to expel Cuba from UN Human Rights Council.