Aid is arriving in Cuba as people living in South Florida protest for the ability to safely return to the island nation and question the organizations authorized to deliver assistance.
The protests come after a group departed from Miami International Airport carrying supplies to Cuba, where citizens face dire conditions. Now, some Cuban Americans are questioning why only certain organizations are allowed to deliver aid.
Movimiento Democracia gathered at Lummus Park in Miami to demand the right to return to Cuba and assist people on the island. The group simultaneously condemned organizations that left from Miami International Airport with supplies, claiming those groups are enabling the Cuban government.
Cuban Americans who spoke at the event said those who fled the regime understand the true needs of people still living on the island.
“We know what we need to solve,” one speaker said. “We need to solve the sovereignty of the people, the rights of the people, medicine, food, and the right to self-determination. That is what the Cuban people are demanding, and I’ve been demanding since I was 4 1/2 years old.”
Ramon Sanchez, president of Movimiento Democracia, questioned why Cuban Americans in exile are not allowed to deliver aid directly.
“Why is it that we, the Cuban people who live in exile, who have helped the Cuban people and have been the source of humanitarian aid through these almost 70 years, cannot go into Cuba to directly give the aid to the Cuban people?” Sanchez asked. “We are citizens of the country, and we have that natural right.”
