Protests in Cuba earlier this week over living conditions and food shortages brought back painful memories for Halifax resident Yoandri Reyes and his wife Amanda.
The protests are unusual in a country where dissenting opinions are rejected.
The couple and dozens of other people attended a rally in Halifax in support of Cuban protesters on Tuesday evening.
Reyes is Cuban. He met his Canadian wife while visiting Havana.
They tried to live in Cuba after their marriage, but the island’s conditions turned out to be too much for Amanda.
The couple moved to Canada after Yoandri’s Canadian immigration application was approved.
Reyes said he normally communicates with his family in Cuba via the internet but was unable to reach them as Cuban authorities blocked most people’s access to social media in an attempt to contain the protests.
A special emergency vehicle drives past a classic car in downtown Havana earlier this week. (Alexandre Meneghini / Reuters)
Reyes said it was likely that his father was one of the people on the street.
‘No fear anymore’
He was amazed at the protest scenes he saw on television. The demonstrators called for freedom, rights and food on the streets of Cuba.
“That has never happened in 62 years,” he said. “People were scared, but there is no food right now … So if you have no food for your children or medicine for your family, there is no longer any fear.”
He said he was concerned about the fate of the protesters as he knew how the Cuban government dealt with dissenting opinions. But he said he was glad the Cuban people had a voice.
Not everyone in Nova Scotia shares Reyes’ views on Cuba.
Isaac Saney blames Cuba’s pandemic and ongoing economic embargo for the country’s current economic problems (Robert Short / CBC)
Isaac Saney, director of the transition year program at Dalhousie University and spokesman for the Canadian Network on Cuba, said a number of factors work together to create a difficult environment on the island.
‘Perfect Storm’
“This is kind of a combination of what some people call a perfect storm – the impact of the pandemic that created a globalized crisis around the world and an economic crisis around the world,” he said.
Saney also blames the ongoing U.S. embargo on Cuba for amplifying the effects of the pandemic.
He said the protesters were only a small fraction of Cuba’s 11 million population and the protests were being overly treated by the Western media.
According to Saney, large pro-government demonstrations in Cuba have not received the same level of media attention.
He said the Canadian government should demand that the US end its “economic war” against Cuba.
A press release from Saney’s Canadian Network On Cuba earlier this week said the United States had channeled “millions of dollars” to opposition activists in Cuba with the aim of destabilizing the country.
For his part, Reyes is grateful for his right to speak freely in Canada.
He said that in Cuba, his family had to endure poverty in silence.
“I was not free in my country because they treated me as a traitor and I would just be jailed,” Reyes said.