U.S. Secretary Of State Blinken On MSNBC Mentions Internet In Cuba, But Does Not Mention Remittances To Cuba

United States Department of State
Washington DC
23 July 2021

QUESTION: I want to move on to Cuba, which has seen protests over the past few weeks. And yesterday the White House announced new sanctions against Cuba’s defense minister and special forces brigade for the suppression of peaceful protests. What are those sanctions, and what happens if there is not the result the United States would like to see in reaction, in response to those sanctions?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, Mika, I think what we saw just a little over a week ago is quite extraordinary. Thousands of people, tens of thousands of people taking to the streets across Cuba – not just in Havana but in dozens of cities and towns across Cuba – to say they’re fed up – fed up with the repression, fed up with the lack of freedom, fed up with the fact that they don’t have food and medicines, that they have a government that is not providing for them, and making their voices heard. And I think it’s evidence of a government that – and a regime that certainly lacks confidence in itself when it has to try to stifle the voices of its own people.

The smartest thing the regime in Cuba can do is to listen to its own people instead of repress them. But unfortunately, they are – they continue to repress them, they took violent action against those who were speaking up. We went ahead and sanctioned the leaders of the military, the leaders of something called the Black Berets. They were on the front lines of taking violent action against people speaking out for their freedom, speaking out for their needs. We’ll continue to do that.

And also it’s very important that the Cuban people have an ability to communicate, and one of the things we’re very focused on now, working with the private sector, working with others, is doing everything we can to make sure that they have internet access so they can speak to one another, so they can have contact and communication with folks off the island. That is a very active effort.

QUESTION: And is the regime responding, showing any signs of improvement, of responding to what the United States is requiring for the sanctions to either be pulled back or for more sanctions not to come their way?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: No. We haven’t seen that kind of response. The regime tends to double down in these situations. But again, this is not about us. This is about the Cuban people. And I think one of the big mistakes the regime makes is to try to point the finger at the United States, saying we’re responsible for these protests. We’re not. These are the Cuban people. They are speaking up. They are standing – they’re speaking out. They’re standing up. And a regime that doesn’t understand that and that has – lacks the confidence to allow the voices of its own people to be heard I think is making a very, very big mistake.