UK Activists Rally In Support Of Socialist Cuba, Against US Blockade

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th July, 2021) Dozens of people rallied on Saturday in London to express their support for Socialist Cuba and against the US unilateral blockade of the small Caribbean Island nation, in the light of the recent anti-government protests in Havana and other cities which Cuban authorities claimed were orchestrated from the United States.

"We're calling for solidarity with Socialist Cuba, an end to US and any political interference (in Cuba), and an end to the US blockade," Will Harney, of the Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG), told Sputnik.

The RCG affiliates gathered in one of the corners of Trafalgar Square alongside its sister organization Rock Around the Blockade with placards and Cuban flags to tell passersby about the impact of the 60-year-old US unilateral sanctions on the lives of the Cuban people.

Elsa Collins, a Colombian resident in the UK, also joined the rally, arguing that she has been "fighting for Cuba for a long time."

"I am here to support the Cuban people and President Miguel Diaz-Canel, because Cuba is an example to an example of love and solidarity to the world. Cuba sends doctors to people in need around the world," Collins told Sputnik.

A few miles south of central London, another group of activists gathered outside Brixton underground station to voice their solidarity with the island nation and urge Washington to lift its economic, financial and commercial embargo.

"Love Cuba, don't hate, end the blockade," chanted UK people, Latin American and Cuban residents from different organizations including Cubanos en UK and the Cuba Solidarity Campaign.

Miriam Palacios, from Cubanos en UK, told Sputnik that they were also rallying in support of the Puentes de Amor (Bridges of Love) initiative being promoted in the US to urge President Joe Biden to put an end to the blockade and build bridges between both countries.

Cuba has seen the largest protests in the island nation since 1994, sparked by anger over shortages of food, medicine and other basic necessities. More than 100 demonstrators have been arrested and one individual has died, according to local media.

Meanwhile, President Biden, despite Cuba's dire economic situation, has so far refused to remove any sanctions that were imposed by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.