By: Teddy Grant

Black Lives Matter (BLM) has requested that the United States end its embargo on Cuba in the midst of protests in the island nation calling for the end of the 62-year authoritarian government.   

“Since 1962, the United States has forced pain and suffering on the people of Cuba by cutting off food, medicine and supplies, costing the tiny island nation an estimated $130 billion,” the organization wrote on Instagram. “Black Lives Matter condemns the U.S. federal government’s inhumane treatment of Cubans and urges it to immediately lift the economic embargo.”   

 

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Black Lives Matter is calling for President Joe Biden to end the embargo, which the Obama administration sought in 2016.   

Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) criticized BLM, calling it an “extortionist ring” that “took a break today from shaking down corporations for millions & buying themselves mansions to share their support for the Communist regime in #Cuba.”  

The extortionist ring known as the Black Lives Matter organization took a break today from shaking down corporations for millions & buying themselves mansions to share their support for the Communist regime in #Cuba https://t.co/xir94EIJ4X

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 15, 2021

Cubans have taken to the street in protest, with some chanting “We are not afraid,” calling for the end of the dictatorship. In addition to lack of food and medicine, Cubans have struggled to gain access to the COVID-19 vaccine as rates increase in the country.   

RELATED: Protesters in Miami Block Highway in Support of Cuba

Earlier this week, Biden said that the U.S. supports the Cuban people who “bravely assert their fundamental and universal rights, and as they all call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering.”   

We stand with the Cuban people as they bravely assert their fundamental and universal rights, and as they all call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering. https://t.co/KGY3MFfsw0

— President Biden (@POTUS) July 12, 2021