In these last few days of March in 2024, even with tragic Wars in places such as Ukraine and the Middle East, the world is also closely watching another violent uprising in the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The map and photo above reveal that Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, is just a few miles off the eastern tip of Cuba where Cuba's second largest city, Santiago, is located and where the U. S. military base at Guantanamo Bay is also located. While Haiti is awash with flames and turmoil, Cuba's important city of Santiago is also facing agitations that Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel says are exacerbated by the U. S. taking advantage of the Haitian violence to foment violence in Cuba. According to London-based REUTERS, which maintains a highly respected news bureau in Cuba, President Diaz-Canel's exact quote is: "Terrorists from the United States were seeking to foment further uprisings" in Cuba while the uprisings in Haiti are making international news.
As you can see above, the top Cuban headline in the clossing days of March 2024 is the one from Reuters and it says: "Cubans stage rare street protest over power blackouts." Note above that the BBC and other worldwide news agencies republished the Reuters article regarding the street protests in Santiago de Cuba, which is very close to the violent turmoil in Haiti. Cuba strongly says the problems in Santiago de Cuba are being fomented by the "ageless counter revolutinary U. S. measures designed to re-dominate Cuba the way it did prior to 1959's revolutionary victory."
The Reuters photo above shows a street in Santiago de Cuba and this photo was used to illustrate the Reuters article headlined: "Protests erupt in eastern Cuba over blackouts and food shortages." Of course, Cuba blames those conditions on the U. S. Embargo/Blockade of the island that has existed since 1962.
Another worldwide Reuters headline in late March of 2024, as shown above, says: "Cuba summons top US diplomat, accuses US of stoking protests."
Above is the international Reuters article back on March 18-2024 that started off with this paragraph: "Cuba's foreign ministry said it had summoned the top U. S. diplomat on the island to a meeting following protests on Sunday, accusing the U. S. embassy in Havana of seeking to stoke a broader anti-government uprising and meddling in Cuba's international internal affairs."
The two photos above taken in Havana today -- March 20th of 2024 -- show Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel leading a public meeting that was covered live nationwide by Cuban radio and television stations. The prime topic concerned the protests on the eastern tip of the island in Santiago de Cuba, which is close to the violence taking place in Haiti. As usual, Diaz-Canel -- who was Cuba's Education Minister for years before becoming President in 2018 -- takes questions from his audiences. In one earlier session Diaz-Canel had mentioned: "As we all know, the U. S. bank-rolling of the Batista dictatorship in Cuba caused the Cuban Revolution and the U. S. bank-rolling of dictatorships in Haiti, such as the Duvalier family, for many years helped shape what is happening now in Haiti. The U. S., obviously, wants the same violence in Cuban cities, espeically Santiago de Cuba and Havana." When asked, "So, what are you going to do about it?"...he said, "Everything I can, short of declaring war on the United States. The world already has too many wars, and we are far too poor and far too little to fight the United States."
This photo was taken in Santiago de Cuba in 1957 and is used courtesy of the informative LatinAmmericanStudies.org website. It famously and historically shows Cuban mothers bravely marching to protest the murders of their children by the Batista dictatorship. Such protests galvanized Cuba's Revolution that defeated Batista in 1959. The poster above said: "Stop the murders of our children. Cuban Mothers." Most major revolutionary celebrations to this day in 2024 are held in Santiago de Cuba, not in Havana.
This photo is courtesy of the Miami Herald and it shows the protests in Santiago de Cuba in mid-March of 2024 as being caused by "blackouts and food shortages" that are gripping Cuba.
Cuban women living in Santiago de Cuba are called Santiagueras, such as Isabel Fernandez. She knows a lot about what is happening in 2024 in Santiago de Cuba, the cradle of the Revoltuion. Isabel says, "At least the Cuban media lets me speak my piece. In the U. S. the media only cares what the anti-Cuba Cubans want and say." And, of course, Isabel has some pertinent thoughts about what is happening in March of 2024 in nearby places such as Miami and Haiti.