Thousands of people flocked to the streets across Cuba, screaming "freedom" in the largest anti-government protests the communist-ruled island has seen in decades. The protesters were enraged by food and medical shortages. On Sunday, riot police deployed pepper spray and batons against several protestors in Havana, although most of them had not been confronted.

Witnesses said they saw civilian authorities, away from police cars, taking several protestors as well as special forces jeeps equipped with machine guns stationed in the streets. Protests were also recorded at Palma Soriano, near Santiago in the east of the country, and San Antonio de Los Banos, south of Havana, where protestors chanted, "Down with the dictatorship!"

Hundreds of people marched through communities including San Antonio de Los Banos and Palma Soriano, as well as the province of Artemisa, outside of Havana. Protests even reached Miami, Florida, which has a large Cuban and Cuban-American community.

Cuba's President blames the US for misleading protestors

In an unscheduled broadcast address, President Miguel Dáz-Canel, who had just returned from San Antonio de Los Banos, claimed many protestors were earnest but were being misled by US-backed social media campaigns and on-the-ground mercenaries. He warned that any future provocations would be met with harsh retaliation. For the last two years, the Communist-run nation has been embroiled in a worsening economic crisis, which the government blames mostly on US sanctions and the pandemic, while its critics point to inefficiency and a one-party Soviet-style regime.

"As if pandemic outbreaks had not existed all over the world, the Cuban-American mafia, paying very well on social networks to influencers and YouTubers, has created a whole campaign ... and has called for demonstrations across the country," Díaz-Canel told reporters, as per the NBC News.

Although many individuals attempted to use their cellphones to live-stream the protests, Cuban authorities cut off internet connectivity for the whole day. Officers also confronted protestors, hurling them with tear gas and detaining several protesters.

Per AFP, its correspondents observed police using tear gas to disperse crowds and arresting at least ten people, as well as cops using plastic pipes to beat demonstrators. Thousands of protestors, mostly young people, marched through San Antonio de Los Banos, a hamlet 30 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of Havana.

According to footage uploaded online, security officers came shortly after the protests began; and Diaz-Canel subsequently visited the town himself, surrounded by party activists while people taunted him. Long food lines, growing power outages for several hours a day, and a severe scarcity of medications have fueled public outrage since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Cuba under US sanctions.

Read Also: Watch: Massive Explosion Rattles Tehran Near Broadcasting Headquarters; The Cause of Explosion Remains Unidentified

Demonstrators urged Cuba goverment to allow foreign funds

Cuba is in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic's most severe phase ever, with a new daily record of infections and deaths recorded on Sunday. In Cuba, the only allowed gatherings are usually Communist Party events.

The country of 11.2 million people escaped the outbreak largely unharmed in the early months, but infections have recently increased, with a new daily high of 6,923 cases recorded Sunday and 47 fatalities for a total of 1,537. "These are alarming numbers which are increasing daily," Francisco Duran, the health ministry's chief of epidemiology, said.

Calls for help have proliferated on social media under hashtags like #SOSCuba, with people and artists alike imploring the government to allow much-needed foreign funds to enter the nation. On Saturday, an opposition movement proposed for the construction of a "humanitarian corridor," which the administration dismissed, claiming that Cuba was not a combat zone.

A foreign affairs official, Ernesto Soberon, criticized a campaign that he said aimed to project an idea of absolute chaos in the nation that does not correspond to the facts.

Related Article: North Korea Faces Harsh Food Shortage of Around 860,000 Tons This Year, United Nations Report

@YouTube