Cuban media makes unusual mention of ’94 protest!
AP ~ HAVANA — Cuba’s Communist Party newspaper Granma published a front-page story Wednesday marking the 15th anniversary of street protests that Fidel Castro himself had to quell, an unusual public reference to one of the few serious internal threats to his nearly half-century of rule.
The article portrayed the event as a victory for Castro’s revolution — challenging the version of anti-Castro activists who celebrate it as a “day of resistance” to the communist government.
In the summer of 1994, food and fuel were scarce and islanders were sweating through hours-long blackouts that stilled fans, air conditioners and water pumps, making sleep fitful and bathing difficult.
Some desperate Cubans invaded foreign embassies to demand asylum. Others hijacked Havana harbor ferries and tried to take them to the United States.
On Aug. 5 — reportedly after police tried to block a ferry hijacking — hundreds of Cubans spilled onto Havana’s seaside Malecon boulevard, picked up rocks and debris from crumbling buildings and hurled them at police.
Chants of “Liberty!” rose from the crowd.
Such street protests were — and still are — unheard of in a country where police officers are stationed on many street corners in cities and block-level committees are assigned to watch neighbors and defend the government.
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