A protest broke out in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday in support of the anti-government protesters in Cuba and participants appealed to the Biden administration to take a firmer stance on the crackdown in Havana.
“Where is Biden?” the protesters chanted, according to Fox 13 News. “Where is Biden?”
Protests have broken out across the state and this particular rally resulted in three arrests after the protesters blocked traffic on Dale Mabry Highway and forced the partial closure of Interstate 275. The demonstrators yelled, “Cuba Libre!”
The report said two men face charges of battery on an officer and resisting arrest, another faces charges of resisting arrest.
The Biden administration has said it stands by the people of Cuba who demand basic human rights. President Biden called the protests “remarkable” and a “clarion call for freedom.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that the U.S. “stands with the Cuban people seeking freedom and respect for their human rights.” He called the violence against peaceful protestors “abhorrent.”
The White House did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said the administration is considering how it could be “helpful directly to the people of Cuba.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, said the Biden administration can impose new sanctions, open up satellite Internet access on the island and “issue a clear and unambiguous statement that the current U.S. policies towards the regime implemented by the Trump administration will remain in place,” according to the Washington Post.
The Cuban government has blamed those U.S. policies for the economic hardship faced in the country.
Thousands of Cubans took to the streets in Havana on Sunday to lash out at the worsening conditions in the country under the communist regime – the biggest protest in decades – prompting the country’s president to call on “revolutionary” citizens to counter the protesters.
The Miami Herald reported that some Democrats in South Florida want Biden to deliver a clear message of support to the protesters in Cuba from Miami and compared the moment to Ronald Reagan’s ‘Tear Down this wall’ speech.
“I really believe this is one of those moments, I put it up with the moment of ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall’ because I do believe we can give the hope to the people in Cuba,” state Sen. Annette Taddeo, a Democrat, told the Herald. “It’s really about the people in Cuba who need to hear it. The words of the president of the U.S., be it Republican or Democrat, should matter.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
