The EU supports the protesters in Cuba and demands the release of those detained during the protests

The European Union has shown its “unequivocal support” to the right of Cuban citizens to demonstrate peacefully and demand changes on the island, while has demanded that Havana release the detainees arbitrarily during protests.

“We ask the Cuban government to respect the human rights and freedoms of its citizens and release those arbitrarily detained in relation to the demonstrations of July 11 and the past weeks,” an EU spokesperson told Europa Press about the protests last Monday.

In this sense, the European bloc takes note of the information that points to preventive arrests of the activists organizing the mobilizations during the days prior to the convocation.

As in the previous wave of protests in July, the EU asks Havana to listen to the demands of its citizens and commit to an inclusive dialogue to address the aspirations for change of Cubans.

In any case, it insists that the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement, the framework that governs the EU’s relations with Cuba, is the best way to maintain “critical” contact with the Cuban authorities and is willing to support the reforms. necessary on the island.

The hangover of the dissident initiative of 15N, neutralized by the deployment of the security forces, it engulfs a country in which polarization and the political, economic and social causes of the frustrated protest are still just as present.

The opposition, activists and international organizations denounced on Monday a “massive” police deployment, “arrests” and “besieged” houses that thwarted the planned mobilizations against the government, which weeks ago warned the organizers of the legal consequences they would face if they encouraged unauthorized protests.