Cuban exiles protest Biden's plan to meet with regime for migration talks

Cuban exiles took to the streets of Miami on Wednesday night to protest the upcoming migration talks between Washington and Havana.

Dozens of people responded to calls from community leaders, influencers and activists in South Florida to protest the talks between members of the Biden administration and representatives of the communist regime which will be held in Washington on Thursday.

The demonstration began at 8 p.m. outside of Little Havana’s Versailles restaurant, an emblematic meeting place for the exile community located on 8th street in Miami.

Ramon Saul Sanchez, a top leader within the exiled community, presenter and activist Alexander Otaola, Somos President Dariel Fernandez and Latin Grammy winning rapper Eliecer “El Funky” Marquez Duany were among those who joined the protestors to show their opposition to the forthcoming meeting.

As the crowd continued to grow, demonstrators raised Cuban and American flags, held signs bearing the newly minted anti-Castro slogan “patria y vida” (homeland and life), and demanded “freedom for political prisoners.”

“To those who remain in Cuba, do not lose faith, do not grow tired of fighting. Even though of us living in freedom have our hearts imprisoned on the island,” one exiled protestor told ADN Cuba.

"No to dialogue, don't be fooled by lies and a few empty promises. The dictatorship has been a lie since it began, since it stole our dreams," she added.

Another protester said that "it is unacceptable that they want to dialogue and disregard our exile, disregard our suffering as we fear for our imprisoned or starving relatives in need.”

"This is unacceptable. You cannot talk about Cuba without consulting Cubans. This is a mockery," said Alexander Otaola, speaking to ADN Cuba. "It is important that we do not allow the Cuban dictatorship to sit down to receive recognition and be legitimized by the Biden administration."

According to the activist and influencer, "the Cuban people must demonstrate daily that they want a real change, without fear, as they are not afraid to face armed forces.”

He stressed the importance of "people recovering public spaces inside Cuba, recovering their rights taken away one by one by the lies of a better future offered by a socialist system that clearly failed after 63 years.”

Other exiled Cubans who attended the protest at Versailles expressed their desire for dictator Miguel Diaz-Canel to “resign from power” and for there “to be democracy in the country and that the rights of the Cuban people be respected.”

The crowd also shouted "down with communism” and cheered the human rights groups Damas de Blanco and Movimiento San Isidro – both of whom are continuously harassed by the Cuban authorities.

"Diaz-Canel, you are a murderer and we do not want dialogue with you. We are not going to accept it, even if we have to sit in front of the White House," one exiled Cuban woman said.

Biden Administration to sit at the table with the Cuban regime

Representatives from both governments will meet on Thursday in Washington, D.C. to discuss migratory issues – right as an unprecedented exodus of Cubans has begun to make its way to the United States, Reuters reported.

During an April 20 press conference in Panama, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the U.S. was open to resuming migration agreements with Cuba.

The homeland security chief – who is accompanying President Biden to a regional meeting on migration, said the administration is committed to attacking the root causes of immigration through aid to Central America.

Cuba’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Josefina Vidal addressed the aid on Tuesday during an interview with the AP and CNN in Havana, saying that the U.S. “is providing economic aid to many countries in the region to reactivate their economies, to help them generate jobs", but maintains a "hard hand" with the island.

The Assembly of the Cuban Resistance (ARC) voiced its rejection of the meeting between the government of the United States “and the communist tyrants in Cuba.” In a statement obtained by ADN America, the group said “at this moment, these negotiations are wrong for several reasons.”

The coalition of opposition organizations further stated that the Castro regime “is a regime that violates human rights and has committed and continues to commit crimes against humanity.”

“The exchange at the level of negotiations of this type less than a year after the popular rebellion of July 11 in Cuba with the consequent series of trials and massive convictions of the demonstrators constitutes a true gift to a dictatorship that should be punished for its oppression of the Cuban people.”

Cuban-American Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar also criticized the Biden administration for hosting the talks and the secrecy surrounding the affair.  

"To us, the representatives of South Florida and the Cuban community, Washington has not communicated what will be discussed," the Republican politician stated in an interview with America TV on Tuesday.

"The United States should focus on ending the regime for the benefit of the Cuban people," said Marcell Felipe, president of the Inspire America Foundation.

"Once again, the United States is going to rescue the regime," Felipe told ADN America, adding that after the increase in repression following the mass protests on the island last summer, the U.S. government would be “opening the regime’s escape valve every time it faces the anger of its people.”