History behind the cuban protests- and why you haven't heard about it yet

Cuba, a small island country in the Caribbean, home to the Cuban sandwich,the famous sunroof pastel coloured Pedicabs ,Pitbull ,salsa and a failed communist- dictatorial regime is now experiencing one of its most widespread protests in 6 decades. The new fragile government to install trust in its citizens decided to steal a page on governance from north korea and imprisoned or made ‘disappear’ anyone who criticised them. The story of the cuban protest unfolds in three parts - the buildup, breaking point and the point where everything went downhill. In this case however things were already going downhill since the fall of the USSR.

The Buildup

Cuba wasn't in a good place before the pandemic either. A communist country which relied heavily on tourism for national revenue was practically shunned out by the US - its neighbour and capitalistic superpower. As the trump government re-designated Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism” hitting the country with new sanctions every week its economy started falling apart piece by piece and so did peoples trust in their government . The political structure of Cuba hung on by strings and the pandemic hit it like a hurricane .

The already burdened economy of Cuba took a massive hit due to the Covid virus as we saw unemployment rates soar, markets shut down and companies close. Hostility and distrust towards the government heightened as people sat imprisoned in their homes , jobless, worrying about whether they'd get to have dinner that night.

A circle of austerity was put into motion and as people grew poorer the more their anger towards the government rose.This was followed by inefficient policies and relief schemes released by a fragile governmental regime, deteriorating living conditions, electricity outages and shortages of food and medicine. Cuba is currently experiencing food and medicine shortages and power outages echoing the worst of the post-Soviet crisis in the 1990s, when the breakup of the Soviet Union left Cuba without its main benefactor. That pushed the economy into free fall and sparked a migration crisis, when then-Cuban leader Fidel Castro opened up the borders and allowed thousands to flee by sea to the US.

The Breaking Point

The tipping point of the cuban revolution didnt come as a moving speech by an leader of the opposition, US military invasion or mass murder but came in the form of art and music- the rawest and purest form of expreseeion of human emotions. The stepping stones for the protests were laid down by music artists who popularized local rap which sought to rekindle the feeling of resentment already present within the common people towards the government. The San Isidro Movement, a collective of artists, musicians, writers, performers and academic were responsible for spreading ideas of protest to the public and establishing the base for the protests.In November 2020, Cuban security forces reportedly raided the headquarters of the movement after some of its members protested the jailing of another Cuban rapper. In response, some went on a hunger strike, and staged a protest outside the Ministry of Culture, at that time considered one of the largest peaceful demonstrations in decades.

The Cuban government initially said it would engage the artists in dialogue, only to backtrack on that promise. But the movement kept pushing, continuing its very public resistance against the Cuban regime. Those protests — and the work of those in the San Isidro Movement — also gained notoriety online, especially through social media. Cuba has eased internet restrictions in recent years to allow for more access, which helped spread not just the art but also the political message. The “Patria y Vida” song was released early this year which became the chant for the protests . There was just a matter of time before the whole thing exploded because the artists have their pulse on the feelings of the people.