This post has been updated.
With hundreds of anti-government protesters now under arrest in Cuba, President Joe Biden is under increasing pressure to respond 鈥� and opinion is mixed in Cuba and in Florida about what he should do.
Rights groups say Cuban police have detained more than 500 people after last week鈥檚 unprecedented nationwide protests. Biden is now considering increasing staff at the U.S. Embassy in Havana and getting U.S. cash remittances sent to families in Cuba again after they were tacitly halted last year under the Trump administration.
As the pandemic continues, you can rely on 港澳天下彩to keep you current on local news and information. Your support is what keeps 港澳天下彩strong. Please become a member today. now. Thank you.
Many protesters inside Cuba support resuming remittances to give people there some relief, amid the country鈥檚 economic collapse.
鈥淲e think sending remittances again would be a positive step given Cubans鈥� suffering right now,鈥� said Manuel Cuesta Mor煤a, a spokesman for the new Cuban dissident umbrella group, the Democratic Transition Council, who spoke with 港澳天下彩from Havana.
But he added dissidents want to work with Biden to prevent Cuba鈥檚 communist regime from pocketing such a large cut of that money, often 10% of the funds in the past (though new measures introduced last year in Cuba have technically stopped that).
鈥淲e have to find mechanisms to ensure it goes more directly to people here,鈥� Cuesta Mor煤a said.
Until that鈥檚 possible for certain, say Cuban exile leaders like Miami Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, Biden should not resume remittances. Diaz-Balart insists Biden should instead coordinate greater international pressure on the Cuban regime.
Dissident groups like the Democratic Transition Council are also calling for more concerted U.S. and international measures to force democratic and economic liberalization concessions from Havana.
Biden says he is also working to get more internet access to Cubans on the island, who have had many of their social media platforms largely shut down by the regime.
