Statements
Statement from FDP Chair Manny Diaz Denouncing the Cuban Regime’s Repression of Dissidents and Protesters to Halt Yesterday’s Planned Protests
Nationwide, peaceful demonstrations against the Cuban regime, which had been scheduled for yesterday, mostly failed to materialize due to weeks of pre-emptive repression and brutality against dissidents and potential protesters by the island’s communist regime.
On Sunday, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, a leading Cuban opposition activist who had called for the protests, was prevented from leaving his home and was subjected to abuse by regime-aligned mobs. His only plan for the day had been to walk alone dressed in white and holding a white rose in the middle of the afternoon.
In reaction to reports of these disturbing events inside the island, Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz issued the following statement:
“The Cuban dictatorship has once again shown its true face to the world. Instead of allowing peaceful demonstrators to publicly express their grievances, it engaged in a calculated, weeks-long campaign of repression and intimidation designed to take the wind out of yesterday’s protests on the island.
“Its acts of repression against Yunior Garcia Aguilera throughout Sunday tell us all we need to know about how much the communist dictatorship fears its own people. To think that the prospect of a single man marching peacefully while holding a white rose was so threatening to the regime that it felt the need to block his street, bring in pro-government mobs to repudiate him, prevent him from leaving his home and even cover his windows with, of all things, Cuban flags, tell us all we need to know about the cowardice and brutality of the regime.
“The dictatorship may still hold the reins of power, but over the last few days it has shown beyond a reasonable doubt that it lacks even a shred of the moral authority needed to lead the nation. The voices of protesters and dissidents may have been temporarily silenced, but a burning and increasingly irrepressible desire for freedom and democracy beats fervently in the heart of the Cuban people.”