Cuban President Leads Anti-Israel Demo in Front of US Embassy in Havana

Friday, 24 November 2023 1:50 AM

 (L-R) Cuba's Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel, and his wife Lis Cuesta take part in a march in support of the Palestinian people in Havana, on November 23, 2023. (AFP photo)

Tens of thousands of Cubans have staged a demonstration in front of the US embassy in Havana condemning Israel for committing “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza.

The protest march on Thursday was led by President Miguel Diaz-Canel, and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero.

The march moved along Havana’s seaside drive, the Malecon where the US diplomatic headquarters is located, Reuters reported.

This was the first protest march of its kind in more than a decade. Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro used to stage such demonstrations to protest American sanctions and meddling in Cuban affairs.

The protesters, sporting Palestinian flags and banners, chanted "free, free Palestine, Israel is genocide" and "up with Palestinian freedom.” They marched by the building and held a demonstration nearby.

Cuba has been a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause for decades and has trained more than 200 Palestinian doctors. The island nation does not have diplomatic relations with the Zionist regime.

"We are here and it is no coincidence that we have marched in front of the United States embassy," Anet Rodríguez, a university professor, said.

"The United States is one of the most responsible for supporting the State of Israel ... it is supporting a massacre of the Palestinians and international laws are being violated," she said.

Israel says there will be no halt to the fighting in Gaza until at least before Friday, as it continues to bombard the besieged enclave.

Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out a surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.

According to the Gaza-based health ministry, at least 14,500 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, most of them women and children, and injured around 35,000 others.