Thousands march in anti-government protests in Cuba

Protesters in Havana on Sunday.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Eliana Aponte)

Thousands of demonstrators marched in cities across Cuba on Sunday, protesting food and medicine shortages, blackouts, and the surge in coronavirus cases.

Cuba is in the midst of an economic crisis, and these anti-government protests are the largest in decades. In Havana, protesters gathered on the Malecon promenade, shouting "Freedom!" "Enough!" and "Unite!" As they marched by buildings, residents came out onto their balconies and clapped and cheered. After several hours, some demonstrators began throwing cobblestones at police officers, and that is when authorities began arresting people. One protester told The Associated Press he was participating because he was "fed up with the queues, the shortages."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.