Top far-left figures in American politics were silent on Sunday as Cubans took to the streets crying out for freedom from the nation’s communist dictatorship.
Videos circulated on social media of Cubans marching in the streets, protesting the impoverished conditions of the island and their lack of freedom under the far-left communist regime. They did so while chanting “Liberty” and “Freedom” and waving an American flag. The communist dictatorship later started cracking down on the protests, allegedly inflicting violence on the unarmed protesters and cutting off internet access.
Notable far-left figures that did not weigh in on the matter by the time this report was filed included Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who was described in 2016 by Tom Perez, then-Chairman of the Democrat Party, as the “future” of the Democrat Party.
Sanders has repeatedly praised murderous communist dictators and regimes, including Cuba, as highlighted by Sanders’ political opposition:
Sanders vacationed in Cuba and has praised the Cuban revolution saying he was excited to watch Dictator Fidel Castro “rising up against the ugly rich people.” Sen. Sanders praised Communist Cuba’s “value system” while he was mayor of Burlington and even visited Cuba to meet with the dictator in 1989.
Sanders “mocked” reports of human rights abuses in Cuba, claiming that the reports of torture and executions were manufactured by Republicans. The Castro regime’s human right abuses are extensive and have been widely reported, including the sentencing of homosexuals and critics to forced labor camps , and forcing more than a million Cubans to risk drowning as they fled the country.
Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Sanders for president in 2020 when he ran as a Democrat for the second time and subsequently lost again. While on the campaign trail, AOC displayed a cultish-like obsession for Sanders, saying she didn’t “recognize [her] inherent value as a human being” until she “heard of” Sanders.
The Washington Post reported:
José Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas division, said his group had received reports that at least 20 people had been arrested. He added that the organization had received reports of violence being used by Cuban forces, a claim echoed by social media users sharing videos of wounded protesters.
“This is pretty massive,” Vivanco said. “My sense is that this is a combination of social unrest based on a lack of freedoms, and covid, and economic conditions. The lack of access to electricity. The blackouts. … People are screaming for freedom.”
“As demonstrators sought to broadcast the protest live with their cellphones through social media, Cuba’s authorities cut internet service on multiple occasions on Sunday,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “Kentik, a U.S.-based network monitoring company, reported countrywide internet outages.”
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