Protests Erupt in Cuba

[dann]

Quote:

Millions of COVID-19 doses heading to Cuba as Biden Administration examines US-Cuba policies (Local10, July 20, 2021)

Yes and no. Millions of 'COVID-19 doses' are transmitted from infected people to their fellow human beings every day all around the world, but not even millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses are heading to Cuba. In spite of the photo accompanying the article of a woman holding an oversized model of a syringe with the name of one of the Cuban vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, Soberana, the article completely misses the point: It's a donation of syringes, not of vaccines.
The author of the piece seems to think that a syringe for administering vaccine is the same as a dose of vaccine.

[dann]

More help and support arriving from all corners of the world:

Quote:

«Llega hoy una nueva ayuda a nuestro país, resultado de una larga historia en los vínculos que unen a las dos naciones y de las excelentes relaciones que existen entre nosotros. Es una reafirmación de que esta unión es inquebrantable», afirmó González Fraga, y añadió que estos donativos contribuirán a enfrentar la pandemia de la COVID-19.
El embajador mexicano en Cuba, Miguel Díaz Reynoso, aseveró que con esos envíos, «su nación agradece la ayuda y el apoyo de las brigadas médicas cubanas cuando más las necesitaba nuestro pueblo. Esta no es una acción aislada. Se inscribe en la búsqueda continua de la cooperación y la colaboración», y agregó que su Gobierno seguirá atento a las necesidades de Cuba para brindar más ayuda.

Desde China arribó una aeronave con 30 ventiladores pulmonares de altas prestaciones, y según una información del Mincex, esta carga forma parte de otra que está por llegar con más insumos médicos, fundamentalmente medios de protección.

Este tipo de actitud solidaria hacia nuestro pueblo muestra la inconformidad del mundo con las sanciones impuestas a Cuba por el criminal bloqueo comercial, económico y financiero de ee. uu., recrudecido en la etapa de mayor azote de la pandemia, y que la actual administración de Joe Biden no ha variado. Al contrario, recientemente amenazó con tomar más medidas coercitivas.
Cuba recibe, con honda gratitud, nuevos envíos solidarios desde México y China (Granma.cu, Aug. 1, 2021)

Google translation:
«Today new aid arrives in our country, the result of a long history of ties that unite the two nations and of the excellent relations that exist between us. It is a reaffirmation that this union is unbreakable, "said González Fraga, adding that these donations will contribute to facing the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mexican ambassador to Cuba, Miguel Díaz Reynoso, asserted that with these shipments, “his nation appreciates the help and support of the Cuban medical brigades when our people most needed them. This is not an isolated action. It is part of the continuous search for cooperation and collaboration,” adding that his government will continue to be attentive to Cuba's needs in order to provide more assistance.
An aircraft with 30 high-performance lung ventilators arrived from China, and according to information from the Mincex, this cargo is part of another that is yet to arrive with more medical supplies, mainly means of protection.
This attitude of solidarity with our people shows the world's dissatisfaction with the sanctions imposed on Cuba by the criminal commercial, economic and financial blockade of the USA, intensified in the stage of greatest scourge of the pandemic, and that the current administration of Joe Biden has not changed. On the contrary, he recently threatened to take more coercive measures.
With deep gratitude, Cuba receives new solidarity shipments from Mexico and China

[dann]

Originally Posted by dann

It makes me wonder how it will be interpreted when the Cuban vaccination campaign overtakes the USA.
Doses per 100 pop
USA: 101.14 (July 19)
Cuba: 72.62 (July 17)
Vaccinated
USA: 55.71% (July 19)
Cuba: 29.65% (July 17)
Fully vaccinated
USA: 48.28% (July 19)
Cuba: 18.62% (July 17)

I expect it to speed up in the next couple of weeks, but considering the difficulties Cuba is up against, I don't think it's doing bad:
Doses per 100 pop
USA: 103.35 (July 31)
Cuba: 80.95 (July 28)
Vaccinated
USA: 57.26% (Aug. 1)
Cuba: 33.84% (July 30)
Fully vaccinated
USA: 49.26% (Aug. 1)
Cuba: 23.13% (July 30)

The number of deaths per million in Cuba is still rising much too fast.
At 251, Cuba has overtaken Norway (146) and Finland (177) with more than half of Denmark's (438).
With millions of syringes arriving in the country, I can't imagine that Cuba will ever get anywhere near the number of the USA (1,889), however much Trump and Biden would want it to.

[dann]

The rioters in Cuba seem to have some things in common with the rioters in the USA:

Quote:

They call "opponents" those who break windows and doors at shopping centers, steal merchandise and destroy cars belonging to state institutions, as well as privately owned vehicles; insult and assault police officers, assault and attempt to damage institutional buildings and streets, among many other violent acts, violating the law and order, and challenging the stability and security of their fellow citizens.
It is curious, as well as repulsive, to see the festive use they make of their cell phones to record their acts of "opposition."
And then, they are apparently so ignorant they do not realize that the same images they desperately upload to the internet provide the evidence to identify violators of the law and allow Cuba’s courts of justice to call them to responsible for their actions.
It is also repugnant that those who "hire" them for these "opposition" maneuvers offer them a few dollars for their contribution to overthrowing the "Cuban regime." They become cheap mercenaries, and many of them, real terrorists.
I am sure that our people know how to identify them and have full confidence that our justice system will hold them accountable for these criminal acts, with the aggravating factors of their contribution to disseminating media slanders n the midst of a pandemic and promoting its proliferation.
I doubt they will continue to be called only "opponents" in court.
The "opponents” (Granma.cu, Aug. 5, 2021)

[dann]

Originally Posted by newyorkguy

With a population of 11 million people -- thirty times smaller than the United States -- Cuba is now recording more new Covid-19 cases per day then in the U.S. .

The pandemic is still raging in Cuba, but the USA has more Covid-19 cases per day than Cuba again and more deaths in total numbers, but not per capita. And on top of Cuba's other problems with the pandemic, there is a shortage of oxygen: Cuba busca alternativas para mitigar afectaciones por baja cobertura de oxígeno medicinal (Granma.cu, Aug. 15, 2021)

However, the Cuban vaccine campaign is moving along at an admirable pace, the Che Guevara medical brigade has returned from Venezuela to help administer vaccinations, and I think it won't be long until Cuba overtakes the American vaccination numbers:

More than 25 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, 11,409,451 jabs have been administered (the Cuban vaccines require three shots). 4,788,750 people have had at least one dose, 3,604,756 a second dose, and 3,015,945 three doses.
Cuba has a population of 11.3 million.
Más del 25 % de la población cubana está completamente vacunada contra la COVID (Granma.cu, Aug. 14, 2021)

[dann]

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide (CNN Covid-19 vaccine tracker: View vaccinations by country, Aug. 17, 2021)
Comparing vaccination rates: Doses administered per 100 people
United States: 107 (246 days)
Cuba: 103 (99 days)

The Covid-19 death toll per million at this point is:
USA: 1,917
Cuba: 361

[dann]

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide (CNN Covid-19 vaccine tracker: View vaccinations by country, Aug. 18, 2021)
Comparing vaccination rates: Doses administered per 100 people
United States: 107 (247 days)
Cuba: 107 (100 days)

The Covid-19 death toll per million at this point is:
USA: 1,921
Cuba: 367

[dann]

Google Translate:

Quote:

In the recent meeting with the experts and scientists who fight the pandemic, it was stated that the results of the study of Neutralization of sera of vaccinated with Abdala and Soberana 02, against the variants of concern and interest of COVID-19, show that neutralizing antibody titers are observed in sera from those vaccinated with Abdala and Soberana 02, for all the variants analyzed, including Delta. They are also observed in convalescent patients vaccinated with Mambisa and Soberana Plus.

It was also announced that in the next week a million more people will be vaccinated and 22 municipalities will be incorporated that will start, between Friday and Saturday, with the immunization.

The doses for this endeavor will be distributed in the country in the next few hours. Last week the production of 20 million doses (two million bulbs) of the vaccine against COVID-19 Abdala was completed. (National Editorial Office)
Inmunógenos cubanos producen anticuerpos neutralizantes a todas las variantes de la COVID-19 (Granma.cu, Aug. 19, 2021)

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide (CNN Covid-19 vaccine tracker: View vaccinations by country, Aug. 19, 2021)
Comparing vaccination rates: Doses administered per 100 people
United States: 107 (248 days)
Cuba: 108 (101 days)

COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people, Aug 18, 2021 (OurWorldInData)
United States: 107.22
Cuba: 107.93 (Aug. 16, 2021)

[dann]

Shown is the rolling 7-day average per 100 people in the total population. For vaccines that require multiple doses, each individual dose is counted.

Quote:

Cuba 1.59
(...)
USA 0.25
Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people, Aug 20, 2021 (Our World in Data)

[dann]

Quote:

Among the many donor nations helping Haiti, Cuba and its medical teams have played a major role in treating earthquake victims.
(...)
“It is striking that there has been virtually no mention in the media of the fact that Cuba had several hundred health personnel on the ground before any other country,” said David Sanders, a professor of public health from Western Cape University in South Africa.
The Cuban team coordinator in Haiti, Dr Carlos Alberto Garcia, says the Cuban doctors, nurses and other health personnel have been working non-stop, day and night, with operating rooms open 18 hours a day.
Cuba’s aid ignored by the media? - Cuban doctors were first to provide relief in Haiti, but received little press coverage. (AlJazeera, Feb. 16, 2010)

- But that was about the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, not about the latest Haitian earthquake!

- Yes, it was! But nothing's changed in this respect in 2021!

Quote:

After a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Haiti on Saturday morning, Cuban doctors already working in the country are assisting the injured, reports the Cubadebate website.
With the death toll already reaching 304 and rising, the new Prime Minister Ariel Henry instituted a state of emergency for the western department of Nippes and Grand’Anse to the south, reported CNN.
“When it comes to medical needs, this is our biggest urgency. We have started to send medications and medical personnel to the facilities that are affected,” Henry said.
“We have sent more personnel to help out,” he said. “For the people who need urgent special care, we have evacuated a certain number of them, and we will evacuate some more today and tomorrow.”
url=https://havanatimes.org/features/cuban-doctors-helping-injured-in-haiti-after-earthquake/]Cuban Doctors Helping Injured in Haiti after Earthquake[/url] (Havana Times, Aug. 14, 2021)

(And no, Havana Times is not a pro-Cuban website!)

I assume that Cuba will help get a Haitian Covid-19 vaccine campaign going when all Cubans have had the first jab.

[dann]

Ganar tiempo en el tratamiento es clave para preservar la vida (+Video) (Granma.cu, Aug. 22, 2021)
The article isn't easy for Google to translate into English, but it makes it possible to understand most of it. It gives an impression of the difficulties that Cuba's pandemic response (actually the whole health-care system) has been facing after it was overwhelmed by the Delta variant.

The vaccine rollout in Cuba still seems to be doing fine:
Cuba 109.74 (Aug. 20, 2021)
USA 108.44
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people, Aug 22, 2021, (Our World in Data, Aug. 22, 2021)

Cuba 1.29 (Aug 20, 2021)
USA 0.27
Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people, Aug 22, 2021, (Our World in Data, Aug. 22, 2021)

[dann]

Quote:

The emails kept coming in… From farmers and students and chefs and academics whom I’d taken to that tiny island country over the past two decades to learn about her leadership in sustainable agriculture, cooperatives, and growing food in cities: What’s REALLY going on in Cuba?” they asked.
Don’t Believe All that You Hear—Here’s What’s Really Going On in Cuba (Granma.cu, Aug. 25, 2021)

Quote:

We see arrogant attitudes from some people who process the information by paying no attention to the suggestion made by the authorities, who tendentiously look for reasons to make them feel they are right and by picking the information that confirm their conclusions: “It is rude to wear a face mask around your loved ones.” “If I haven’t caught the virus so far, it is because I may be immune to it.” “Let them go to the slumber party, I’m fed up.” “Why wearing face masks all the time, if we already got vaccinated?”
Cuban people are more used to living traumatic events like hurricanes, which also happen to be temporary. The problem with the pandemic is that it goes by as a “slow disaster” that seems to have installed in an “eternal present,” that is yet to be over.
Attention! Pandemic fatigue in sight (Granma.cu, Aug. 25, 2021)

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide (CNN, Aug. 27, 2021)
Doses administered per 100 people
USA 109
Cuba 114

[dann]

USA 110
Cuba 118

[dann]

COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people, Sep 10, 2021: USA, Cuba (Our World in Data)

[dann]

Originally Posted by newyorkguy

With a population of 11 million people -- thirty times smaller than the United States -- Cuba is now recording more new Covid-19 cases per day then in the U.S. .

Two and a half months later, this has changed considerably, mainly because the number of cases as well as deaths per day in the USA has increased since July, but Cuba's number of Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people (Our World in Data) is also sinking rapidly thanks to Cuba's extremely efficient vaccine rollout.
On CNN's Covid-19 vaccine tracker site, Cuba is now #4 in the world in doses administered per 100 people.

Share of people vaccinated against COVID-19: Cuba, USA (Our World in Data)
Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people: Cuba, USA - rolling 7-day average (Our World in Data)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people, Sep 30, 2021: Cuba, USA (Our World in Data)
Share of people who received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine: Cuba, USA (Our World in Data)
Share of the population fully vaccinated against COVID-19: Cuba, USA (Our World in Data)

[dann]

With what appears to be a steady drop in the number of new cases, Cuba is reopening:

Quote:

After being shut for more than a year, beaches in Havana are now opened for visitors. How did the locals take advantage of the new relaxed covid-19 guidelines.
Covid-19 curbs lifted, beaches finally reopened in Havana (WION, Oct 2, 2021)

YouTube Video This video is not hosted by the ISF. The ISF can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website.

I AGREE

Quote:

The famed Malecon seafront promenade in Havana, Cuba, reopens as well as the beaches and pools in the capital, after being shut for nine months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Havana's famed Malecon seafront promenade reopens after Covid closure (AFP on YouTube, Sep 30, 2021)

Notice that they are all wearing face masks.

[dann]

Originally Posted by newyorkguy

With a population of 11 million people -- thirty times smaller than the United States -- Cuba is now recording more new Covid-19 cases per day then in the U.S. .

It just occurred to me that I never actually checked newyorkguy's claim that Cuba, "with a population of 11 million people," was "recording more new Covid-19 cases per day then in the U.S." on July 10, 2021.
It wasn't true! And, in fact, it never was!
The Cuban number of daily cases were pretty awful back then, and it only got worse for the next two months, but on July 10, Cuba had 4,406 cases, USA 19,061 (rolling 7-day average).
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases: Cuba, USA

To get an idea of how bad the situation was in Cuba, we would have to look instead at Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people: Cuba, USA.
This makes it apparent that for a couple of months this summer and fall, Cuba had (and actually still has) more daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million than the USA. On July 10, Cuba had 389 cases per million, the USA 57.

At approximately the same time, Cuba's daily death toll from COVID-19 per million people also exceeded that of the USA, but Cuba's number of daily deaths decreased much faster and is now lower than in the USA: Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people: Cuba, USA.

I assume that the vaccines are the reason why Cuba has fewer deaths per million but still more daily cases of infection than the USA: Share of people vaccinated against COVID-19: Cuba, USA.

For some time, Cuba has had a higher percentage of vaccinated people, but until very recently a low proportion of people who were fully vaccinated, so the level of vaccination was enough to help prevent deaths but not yet enough to really prevent new infections. Now that Cuba has caught up with the USA in the percentage of people that are fully vaccinated, I think that very soon, maybe by the end of this week, the USA will have a higher percentage of new infections than Cuba - not only because of the vaccines, but also because the Cubans seem to be adhering to the mask mandate.

[dann]

Cuba not only has fewer daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people than the USA. Since yesterday, Cuba also has fewer daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people.
Earlier this week, Cuba overtook the USA in share of people fully vaccinated against COVID-19:
Cuba 58.42%
USA 56.09%
Total number of people vaccinated (fully + partly):
Cuba 85.46%
USA 64.91%

And the daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people is still amazing.

[dann]

Cuba wants to win the global race to vaccinate its population against COVID-19 — and it's doing it with homegrown jabs (ABC.net.au, Sep 29, 2021)

[dann]

I didn't notice this one when it appeared two months ago:

Quote:

Dear President Joe Biden:

You recently talked about Cuba and its COVID-19 vaccine campaign at a White House press conference, saying: “I would be prepared to give significant amounts of vaccines if … an international organisation would administer those vaccines and do it in a way that average citizens would have access to those vaccines.” You also called Cuba a “failed state”.
These statements surprised many, including those in the United States who have had first-hand exposure to Cuba’s healthcare system. Your words also rankled front-line Cuban health workers risking their lives to contain the COVID-19 epidemic in our country.

They do not reflect Cuban reality, and we deplore that disinformation by malicious actors is influencing your policy decisions. As scientists, doctors, and concerned citizens, we believe it is worth fact-checking three assumptions implicit in what you said.

Assumption one: International intervention is needed to ensure all Cubans receive vaccines.
Assumption two: Cuba’s response to the pandemic has been dismal, symptomatic of a “failed state”.
Assumption three: US-supplied vaccines are the only route to guarantee COVID-19 immunisation for Cuba’s 11 million people.

Let us take these, one by one. ...
An open letter to President Biden on COVID-19 vaccines for Cuba (AlJazeera, Aug 21, 2021)

Background:
Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people
Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people
Share of people vaccinated against COVID-19
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people
Cumulative confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people
Cumulative confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people

[theprestige]

Originally Posted by dann

I didn't notice this one when it appeared two months ago:

I doubt Biden noticed it either.

[dann]

Of course, he didn't.

Quote:

Without the title page and final blank page, the nine-month review is summed up in just seven pages, barely acknowledging the devastating humanitarian impact of US sanction regimes. Covid-19, the global fight against the pandemic, and vaccination aren’t mentioned at all. “Frankly, I’m disappointed by the sanctions review,” Representative Chuy García of Illinois told The Nation. “A 933 percent increase in the use of sanctions over the last 20 years merits a real investigation, not a nine page memo.”

During the pandemic, US sanctions worsened devastating supply shortages in Cuba and restricted access to vaccines and medical treatment in countries like Venezuela. A month after the administration launched the review, dozens of congressional Democrats wrote to Biden urging him to reconsider sanctions that impeded Covid-19 relief, and to take a broader look at sanctions as a foreign policy tactic overall.
(...)
Just look at what the House Foreign Affairs Committee is up to this week. The committee is marking up a Myanmar bill that includes sanctions, a resolution on Ethiopia that recommends sanctions, and a bill to sanction whoever “directed or carried out” Havana Syndrome attacks.
The Biden Administration’s Sanctions Review Is a Joke (The Nation, Oct 22, 2021)

[dann]

Cuba-U.S. tensions mount over pending protests on Communist-run island (Reuters, Oct 25, 2021)
As activists plan nationwide protests, Cuba accuses U.S. of involvement (NBC News, Oct 27, 2021)

I think that protesters, if they do show up in November, will be an outnumbered minority:
Cuban workers denounce poorly concealed objectives of mercenary ruckus (Granma.cu, Oct 20, 2021)

And they can no longer refer to a failed pandemic strategy like they (and the OP of this thread) did in July:
100% of Cuba's eligible population has received at least one dose of a nationally developed COVID-19 vaccine (Granma.cu, Oct 27, 2021)

Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people
Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people
Share of people vaccinated against COVID-19
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people
Cumulative confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people
Cumulative confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people

[dann]

How to get those protests going:

Quote:

The United States is a military superpower whose plans for political subversion are a shame and a scandal, and there is no indication that Washington will now achieve what it has failed to do in 60 years.

The piggy bank was rattled again. In September 2021, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) gave $6,669,000 in grants for projects aimed at “regime change” in Cuba, a euphemism to avoid saying “direct intervention by a foreign power.” The United States’ current Democratic administration has especially favored the International Republican Institute (IRI) with a bipartisan generosity that Donald Trump never had. Other groups in Miami, Washington, and Madrid that have also received generous amounts have been among those calling for an invasion of the island. These groups paint an apocalyptic panorama in Havana to secure greater funding next year.

Public funding for the anti-Castro industry in the United States seems inexhaustible. In the last year, at least 54 organizations have benefited from the State Department, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and USAID programs for Cuba. In the last 20 years, this agency has given Creative Associates International, a CIA front, more than $1.8 billion for espionage, propaganda and the recruitment of agents of “change” including on the island. One of its best-known projects, the so-called “Cuban Twitter” or ZunZuneo, resulted in a superb failure that unveiled a plot of corruption and flagrant violations of US law. ZunZuneo cost the USAID director his job, but Creative Associates International continues to operate, only now undercover.
The US has an unhealthy obsession with Cuba (Latin America in Movement, Oct 31, 2021)

[dann]

Originally Posted by newyorkguy

Public protests in Cuba, normally unthinkable, have erupted as widespread anger and frustration grows at the current situation. The Miami Herald reports:


A 14-second video shows people marching in protest.

YouTube Video This video is not hosted by the ISF. The ISF can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website.

I AGREE

With a population of 11 million people -- thirty times smaller than the United States -- Cuba is now recording more new Covid-19 cases per day then in the U.S. .

We have already (in post 97) established that Cuba never had more new Covid-19 cases per day than the USA, but let us take a look at the situation today, two days before the protests that have been announced for Nov 15 and were meant to coincide with Cuba's reopening of the tourist trade.

Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people. 7-day rolling average. Cuba 39.75, USA 238.06 (On July 11, it was: Cuba 432.25, USA 60.25)
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people. 7-day rolling average. Cuba 0.25, USA 3:45 (On July 11, it was: Cuba 2.35, USA 0.71)
Cuba has one third of the cumulative confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people of the USA: Cuba 731.52, USA 2,290.43. Thus, Cuba is at #97. The USA at # 20.

And without the U.S. blockade, Cuba would probably have fared much better.

[dann]

Correction:

Originally Posted by dann

Cuba 0.25, USA 3:45

It should have been: Cuba 0.28, USA 3.45 (daily deaths per million)

[theprestige]

Quote:

gave $6,669,000 in grants

Nice.

[dann]

The only protests erupting in Cuba this weekend appeared to be against U.S. backed Yunior Garcia:

Quote:

The rally in Miami took place around the same time as Yunior Garcia, a playwright and dissident leader, was expected to march alone, with a white rose in hand, down a central street in Havana to underscore the non-violent nature of his movement.
But government supporters surrounded Garcia's apartment complex early in the afternoon, and shortly after draped the building in Cuban flags, obscuring the view of Garcia's window from the street.
A bus blocked access to Garcia's street, and supporters shouting "I am Fidel" - a reference to the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro - gathered around his home, preventing him from leaving.
Later in the evening, dissidents had called on supporters to bang pots from their homes in a show of solidarity for government critics, but several Reuters witnesses in Havana, the country's largest city, heard no pot-banging in their neighborhoods.
Residents contacted by Reuters in eastern Granma and Santiago de Cuba provinces, as well as San Antonio de los Banos, in Artemisa province where the July protests began, also reported no incidents on Sunday and no pot-banging.
Cuban Americans rally in Miami while protest plans fizzle in Havana (SwissInfo.ch, Nov 15, 2021)

It doesn't come as a surprise that the people protesting against Yunior Garcia outside his house are referred to as "a violent crowd":
Cuba: A Violent Crowd Surrounds Yunior Garcia’s House and Threatens the Foreign Press (TranslatingCuba, Nov 14, 2021)
But fortunately, NBC News has footage of the alleged violence:
Standoff between Cuban government and activists begins ahead of march (NBC News, Nov 14, 2021)

It is also no surprise that most Cubans don't approve of Yunior Garcia'a attempt at having new riots one day before Cuba opens up to tourism, which they hope will help revive the Cuban economy, which took a severe battering from the pandemic. It is obvious that Yunior Garcia's backers in Washington and Miami would like to see him ruin these attempts at an economic revival. After all, that is the reason why they forbid Americans to go there, isn't it?!

[dann]

This podcast is about the July protests, not about the (planned) November protests:

Quote:

Guests Helen Yaffe, José Pertierra and Marta Núñez Sarmiento discuss the protests in Cuba during July 2021.
"Havana (Derangement) Syndrome" (RadioPublic, Nov 15, 2021)

Helen Yaffe is the author of the book We Are Cuba! (GoodReads)

[Arcade22]

Yes how surprising that the only people allowed to "protest" unmolested in Cuba are the thugs who "protest" on behalf of the country's cruel ruling dictatorship that oppresses anyone who tries to assert their own freedom.
Naturally secret police goons and corrupt police officers join this "protest" in solidarity with those opposing political freedom.

As despicable as these scum of the earth are, their actions are in a sense at least reasonable if utterly self-centered and amoral. The same can not be said for the insane nutcases who see obvious oppression take place and then somehow completely mistake oppressor for the oppressed. That takes a very special kind of crazy.

[dann]

Yes, nationalist Swedes will obviously be offended by a country that does its utmost to protect children as well as adults from contagion during a pandemic. The freedom to infect is held in high regard in Sweden, a country where even outdoor demonstrations (of more than 20 (!) people) were forbidden - be it BLM demonstrations or protests against Sweden's lax recommendations.

Placing insane nutcases in charge of a country's pandemic response, condemning the vulnerable to isolate month after month because the state epidemiologist considers going for herd immunity to be common sense and even after the introduction of vaccines still lets children be exposed to and transmit the infection, that is truly the pinnacle of statesmanship and unselfish morality.

That Cuba arrests rioters, not participants in ordinary demonstrations as long as they are peaceful, is not exactly insane. The Jan 6 'protesters' are still being rounded up, too, and not for participating in the peaceful part of the rally. But in Cuba, Western nationalists see rioters as freedom fighters, which is not at all surprising. That is how QAnon cultists see themselves.

[dann]

In recent weeks, Cuba got a new national hero, Dr. Carlos Lorenzo Vázquez, a Cuban physician and first degree specialist in general comprehensive medicine and oncology. A little like the Cuban Five, who infiltrated terrorist groups in Miami, but not quite as dramatic, he pretended to be a dissident to gain access to U.S. financed workshops aimed at training mercenaries to destabilize Cuban society by promoting confrontations between the Cuban armed forces and the Cuban people. At these workshops, he got to know Yunior Garcia, the leader of the failed attempt to have new riots in Cuba this month, akin to the ones in July.

Quote:

In his appearance on the program Razones de Cuba, he referred to Garcia’s links with terrorists who have a history of aggressions against the island and think tanks that promote political subversion from U.S. territory.
He also warned about international programs for the training of leaders to promote regime change on the island, in which he participated together with Yunior Garcia.
Tribute in Cuba to doctor who denounced organizer of illegal march (Prensa Latina, Nov 2, 2021)

And Dr. Carlos is just one of many: Médicos que han salvado a Cuba de la CIA y sus cómplices (+ Video) (Granma.cu, Nov 15, 2021)

People in NY and NJ rally in support of Cuba: NY coalition members support Cuba and ask for the end of US blockade (Prensa Latina, Nov 15, 2021)

The most recent SARS-CoV-2 numbers:
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people. 7-day rolling average. Cuba 33, USA 251.
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people. 7-day rolling average. Cuba 0.23, USA 3.49.
Share of people vaccinated against COVID-19 Cuba: fully 73.41, total 89.07; USA: fully 57.58, total 67.38.

Since it takes three jabs to be fully vaccinated in Cuba, the difference is even bigger if we look at
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people Cuba 238.92, USA 130.99.

And even at this point, Cuba is still vaccinating much more than the USA:
Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people. Rolling 7-day average. Cuba 0.98, USA 0.30.

For some reason, Cubans appear to have confidence in the Cuban vaccines.

[dann]

Excellent YouTube video about the July protests in Cuba:

Quote:

We all saw the news coverage of the supposedly massive anti-government protests in Cuba during the week of July 11th, but if you were paying attention, you may have noticed something strange. In this episode, we'll analyze the protests and take a look at the US' long history of meddling in Cuba.
The Truth About The Cuba Protests (Second Thoughts, July 30, 2021)

Some of the footage from the July demonstrations presented as protests against the Cuban government were actually manipulated footage from pro-government rallies with the text of the signs blurred out. In combination with footage from what appears to be Miami protests, it gives the impression that there were more anti-government protesters than was actually the case.

YouTube Video This video is not hosted by the ISF. The ISF can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website.

I AGREE

[dann]

The numbers still seem to be going down after Cuba's reopening:

Originally Posted by dann

The most recent SARS-CoV-2 numbers:
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people. 7-day rolling average. Cuba 33, USA 251.
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people. 7-day rolling average. Cuba 0.23, USA 3.49.
Share of people vaccinated against COVID-19 Cuba: fully 73.41, total 89.07; USA: fully 57.58, total 67.38.

Since it takes three jabs to be fully vaccinated in Cuba, the difference is even bigger if we look at
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people Cuba 238.92, USA 130.99.

And even at this point, Cuba is still vaccinating much more than the USA:
Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people. Rolling 7-day average. Cuba 0.98, USA 0.30.

Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people. 7-day rolling average. Cuba 33, USA 251. --> Cuba 28, USA 261.
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people. 7-day rolling average. Cuba 0.23, USA 3.49. --> Cuba 0.15, USA 3.50.
Only the vaccination numbers are still going up, pretty fast, at this late stage of the vaccination campaign:
Share of people vaccinated against COVID-19 Cuba: fully 73.41, total 89.07; USA: fully 57.58, total 67.38. --> Cuba: fully 77.83, total 89.20; USA: fully 57.72, total 67.84.

COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people Cuba 238.92, USA 130.99. --> Cuba 243.59, USA 132.25

Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people. Rolling 7-day average. Cuba 0.98, USA 0.30. --> Cuba 1.41, USA 0.34.

[dann]

The playwright Yunior Garcia apologizes for taking a vacation in Spain after having upset his neighbors in Havana:

Quote:

“I beg your pardon for being a human, for thinking of my wife and of my life, for considering escaping what would have become death in life. Because that’s what was awaiting me in Cuba: death in life,” García told reporters in Madrid.
“I will try to pardon myself for not being courageous enough to become a bronze statue.”
Yunior Garcia: Cuban activist who fled promises to return home (Nov 18, 2021)

He must have tried very hard because he seems to have forgiven himself already. Notice his use of imagery: "death in life." That is a great way to work death into the narrative when nothing remotely deadly actually happened.
And the dramatist is already busy writing a new version of the old story about communists eating babies:

Quote:

“It has become an abusive husband that beats his wife. It has become the Saturn that has already devoured his children and, right now, is swallowing his grandchild.”

Cuba could at least have done him the favor of trying to prevent him from leaving (what happened to the angry mob?!), which would have made the whole thing seem heroic, but ...

Quote:

“I suppose that (Garcia) is exercising the right that any Cuban has to travel and move freely,” Rodriguez [Cuban minister of foreign affairs] told The Associated Press during an interview on Wednesday.

CNN writes:

Quote:

... a mob of hardline pro-government supporters surrounded his house on Sunday, a spokesman for Archipelago group said on Tuesday.
Cuban activist Yunior Garcia Aguilera arrives in Spain (CNN, Nov 18, 2021)

As always, when you hear claims like this, I recommend that you ask to see the footage of the hardline mob (post 108). Many Cubans have smart phones nowadays, in particular the ones who earn a living reporting to the international media.

[dann]

Quote:

I talked to Cubans who had second thoughts about the usefulness of street protests. They came into the streets on July 11, spontaneously, with all kinds of legitimate gripes: the scarcity of food and medicines, the long lines for basic goods, the rapid spread of COVID-19, the hard currency stores they didn’t have access to. But in the intervening months between the July protests and November, many realized that street protests only created division when the country needed unity. They realized that despite all the social media hype, the government was not about to fall, and that even if it did, there was no telling what would follow. If it was chaos and civil strife, or a rush of voracious Cuban Americans trying to grab waterfront island properties, their precarious economic situation might be even worse.

“I was out protesting on July 11,” a young mother in Old Havana told me. “But since then, I’ve been weighing the pros and cons. The food situation here is terrible — we have to stand in lines for everything. On the other hand, we are safe. People don’t have guns and go around killing each other; the police don’t shoot people; we don’t have to worry about our children when they are outside playing, and they get a good education for free. If this government really collapsed, I’m afraid we might lose more than we gain.”
Cubans Don’t Want Regime Change (The Jacobin, Nov 16, 2021)

This is in line with what I have heard from Cubans who are not politicized. I have listened to people complain for most of an hour about what they thought was wrong with Cuba, most of all the low wages, but then ending with: 'But if the Americans come here, I'll get hold of a gun and fight them!'
And speaking of guns: When la cubana in the quotation says, "the police don’t shoot people," she knows what she is talking about. She has seen the videos of police brutality in the USA, and she knows about police shootings and gang violence in other Latin American countries. She knows that Cuban police aren't trigger happy. And she knows about the U.S. blockade as well ...

And at this point, she also knows that "the rapid spread of COVID-19" is no longer a problem in Cuba. She knows about the vaccines developed by Cuba, and she herself has no doubt already been vaccinated with one of those vaccines at this point. That's the major difference between now and July 11. The food is on the way along with tourism, and with the sale of the Cuban vaccines and licenses to produce them abroad.

Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people. 7-day rolling average.
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people. 7-day rolling average.
Share of people vaccinated against COVID-19
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people
Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people. Rolling 7-day average.

[dann]

The Yunior Garcia story:

Quote:

By last week, state-run television began running segments saying Mr. García was aiming to violently overthrow the government. He took it as a warning that he would soon be arrested.
Though he had obtained a 90-day visa from the Spanish government, Mr. García still planned to join the Nov. 15 protests. But he was blocked from leaving his home as the government stopped demonstrators from gathering.
Shortly afterward, Mr. García said, two friends sneaked him out of his home to a safe house where he spent two days before arriving in Spain. The government had posted guards in front of his home, but Mr. García said he believed he was not stopped because officials wanted him out of the country.
The reactions to his departure have been mixed on the Facebook group he founded. The group’s leaders, apparently unaware at first that he had fled, posted messages suggesting he had been kidnapped. Some commenters said they felt betrayed that he had left.
Playwright Is in Exile as Cuba Uses an Old Playbook to Quash Dissent (NYT, Nov 21, 2021)

He allegedly fled because of threats, but he just happened to have already obtained a 90-day visa to Spain, which he hadn't mentioned to his friends, to whom Spain had issued no such visa. And two friends sneaked him out of the house past the security guards, who didn't stop him because they wanted him to leave? What is it? Did they sneak him out, or was he just allowed to leave? And if they wanted to arrest him, why let him leave?!
Cuban satire: Paisaje después de la batalla (Granma.cu, Nov 21, 2021)

[dann]

Protests, anyone?!

Quote:

There are 39 detainees remaining at the center; more than two-thirds of them have never been charged with a crime; it costs $540 million a year to keep it open; and there is “no end in sight” for military commissions that have stalled in part because of the government’s use of torture on enemy combatants.
(...)
“And we’re talking about releasing people. This is nuts,” Graham said. “One thing I can say about the 39 people that are at Gitmo, not one of them has attacked the United States. And if I have my way, none of them ever will.”
(...)
Brig. Gen. John Baker, the chief defense counsel for military commissions at the Department of Defense since 2015, testified that the government would need to start making agreements with the defendants because the commissions have been a “failed experiment” under four presidents that have produced only one final conviction.
The government’s push for the death penalty, violations of attorney-client privilege and overprotection of information about the use of torture have added up to none of the active cases having a trial date set, Baker said.
“We’re further from trial today than we were when I started,” Baker said. “This legal quagmire, I don’t see a way out. The status quo is not working.”
Afghanistan complicates new push to close Guantánamo Bay (Roll Call, Dec 7, 2021)

Quote:

Nearly two decades since the creation of what had been constructed as a temporary holding facility for prisoners of the war on terror, 39 men remain indefinitely detained.
Of those still held, 27 have never been charged with a crime and 13 have been cleared for transfer or release to another country. Some detainees were previously subject to the intelligence community’s then-secret torture program, described as “enhanced interrogation.”
(...)
“The ultimate source of the commissions’ problem is their original sin: torture,” Baker said. “This torture impacts and undermines every aspect of these prosecutions.”
Divided lawmakers weigh future of Guantanamo Bay prison (Military Times, Dec 8, 2021)

[dann]

Since last month, Nov 16:

Originally Posted by dann

The most recent SARS-CoV-2 numbers:
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people. 7-day rolling average. Cuba 33, USA 251.
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people. 7-day rolling average. Cuba 0.23, USA 3.49.
Share of people vaccinated against COVID-19 Cuba: fully 73.41, total 89.07; USA: fully 57.58, total 67.38.

Since it takes three jabs to be fully vaccinated in Cuba, the difference is even bigger if we look at
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people Cuba 238.92, USA 130.99.

And even at this point, Cuba is still vaccinating much more than the USA:
Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people. Rolling 7-day average. Cuba 0.98, USA 0.30.

Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people. 7-day rolling average. Cuba 33, USA 251. --> Cuba 6; USA 357
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people. 7-day rolling average. Cuba 0.23, USA 3.49. --> Cuba 0.03; USA 3.98
The Cuban trend is still decreasing numbers of new cases and deaths.

Share of people vaccinated against COVID-19. Cuba: fully 73.41, total 89.07; USA: fully 57.58, total 67.38. --> Cuba: fully 82.06, total 90.37; USA: fully 60.72; total 72.23
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people. Cuba 238.92, USA 130.99 --> Cuba 257.04; USA 147.6
Daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people. Rolling 7-day average. Cuba 0.98, USA 0.30 --> Cuba 0.44; USA 0.40

Since Nov 22, the rates of new vaccinations in the two countries have been very similar. After Cuba finished vaccinating the kids, it has more or less run out of shoulders but has started to administer booster shots to health-care workers and vulnerable groups.

[dann]

Comparing the COVID-19 Responses in Cuba and the United States (American Journal of Public Health, Aug 16/Dec 8, 2021)

The short version:

Quote:

Until July 15, 2021, the cumulative rate of cases in the US is more than four times higher than that of Cuba, whereas the mortality rate and excess mortality rate are approximately 12 times higher in the United States, the source noted.
Cuba has the lowest Covid-19 death rate in Latin America, with 0.9 percent, according to the Pan American Health Organization.
It also ranks first in Latin America and second in the world regarding immunization against the coronavirus, only surpassed by the United Arab Emirates, according to the digital site Our World in Data.
Cuba has handled the Covid-19 pandemic better than the United States (Prensa Latina, Dec 23, 2021)