Anti-government protests erupt in Cuba as the government struggles to deal with the pandemic.
Thousands of Cubans across the country took part in rare protests against the communist government, marching through several towns as they called for democracy and liberty.
The demonstrations started in the morning on Sunday, as the country endures its worst economic crisis in 30 years. The only authorised gatherings are normally Communist Party events.
Several thousand protesters took to the streets of San Antonio de los Banos, a town of some 50,000 people, 30 kilometres (20 miles) southwest of Havana.
Some of the demonstrators, mainly young people, shouted insults against President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
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In pictures: Cubans take part in a rare demonstration against the government of Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana pic.twitter.com/stqf9CDZ7n
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'A Cuban-American mafia' blamed
Security forces arrived soon after the protests erupted, and Diaz-Canel later visited the town himself.
Diaz-Canel blamed US sanctions imposed by Donald Trump and left unchanged by President Joe Biden for misery people are facing.
He accused "a Cuban-American mafia" of whipping up the protests on social media.
"People have come to express their dissatisfaction with the situation they are living in," he said.
One local, on condition of anonymity, told AFP that she participated in the demonstration as she was exasperated by "the situation with electricity and food."
Public anger
Protests also erupted in Havana, with a few hundred people present, while social media showed other demonstrations in the country.
Public anger has been driven by long food lines, worsening power shortages for several hours a day and a critical shortage of medicines since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, with Cuba under US sanctions.
Cuba is experiencing its toughest phase yet of the coronavirus epidemic, and on Sunday reported a new daily record of infections and deaths.
The country of 11.2 million people was left relatively unscathed in the first months of the Covid outbreak but has seen a recent hike in infections, with a new record of 6,923 daily cases reported Sunday and 47 deaths for a total of 1,537.
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