A Cuban artist blasted Black Lives Matter for its statement about Cuban protests, which many saw as apologetic toward the Cuban government.
José Luis Aparicio Ferrera — a producer and director who, according to his Facebook page, is based in Havana — posted: “For #blacklivesmatters all black lives matter, except Cuban black lives.”
Alongside several other artists, Aparicio Ferrera publicly refused to create work for the regime:
I will not enter my films in any festival or government sponsored event or write copy for any of their publications. I do not plan to participate in any official activities from now on. It’s not much, but it is what I decided.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, Black Lives Matter condemned the United States government for trying to “crush” the Cuban Revolution through its embargo, alleging that the policy inhibits Cubans’ ability to choose their own government:
Black Lives Matter condemns the U.S. federal government’s inhumane treatment of Cubans, and urges it to immediately lift the economic embargo. This cruel and inhumane policy, instituted with the explicit intention of destabilizing the country and undermining Cubans’ right to choose their own government, is at the heart of Cuba’s current crisis. Since 1962, the United States has forced pain and suffering on the people of Cuba by cutting off food, medicine and supplies, costing the tiny island nation an estimated $130 billion.
The people of Cuba are being punished by the U.S. government because the country has maintained its commitment to sovereignty and self-determination. United States leaders have tried to crush this Revolution for decades.
During a Monday speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) — a Cuban-American — pointed out that the Cuban government is the source of the nation’s suffering: “Why aren’t fishermen and farmers in Cuba allowed to fish or grow things and sell to people? It’s not the embargo that keeps them from doing that. It’s the regime. Why can’t Cubans own a small business? Why can’t a Cuban do in Cuba what they can do in Miami, what they can do in Washington, what they do in countries all over the world?”
“The extortionist ring known as the Black Lives Matter organization took a break today from shaking down corporations for millions & buying themselves mansions to share their support for the Communist regime,” Rubio later said on Twitter in response to Black Lives Matter’s statement.
“It’s no surprise that the Marxists of BLM are defending a murderous communist regime,” added Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).
“Here’s the Black Lives Matter org supporting the brutal & oppressive dictatorship in #Cuba,” noted Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).
Days after Black Lives Matter’s release, Fox News unearthed an earlier post of the group eulogizing deceased dictator Fidel Castro: “We are feeling many things as we awaken to a world without Fidel Castro. There is an overwhelming sense of loss, complicated by fear and anxiety. Although no leader is without their flaws, we must push back against the rhetoric of the right and come to the defense of El Comandante.”
“From Fidel, we know that revolution is sparked by an idea, by radical imaginings, which sometimes take root first among just a few dozen people coming together in the mountains,” they continued. “As Fidel ascends to the realm of the ancestors, we summon his guidance, strength, and power as we recommit ourselves to the struggle for universal freedom. Fidel Vive!”