MIAMI, United States. – The United States Embassy in Havana condemned on Monday the approval of a new Penal Code in Cuba, which “further restricts freedom of expression, of the press, and of assembly,” public the diplomatic headquarters on Facebook.
“While it increases the penalties for legitimate and peaceful protests, the new Code reduces criminal sanctions for those who violently repress future protests,” the representative of the United States Government in Cuba also lamented.
The diplomatic headquarters recalled that the new Penal Code had been approved just after the United Nations Committee on Torture requested the Island Government to investigate, prosecute and, if necessary, punish those who used excessive force during the demonstrations of July 11 and 12, 2021.
“We are dismayed by the fact that the regime has not filed any charges against those involved in the violent repressive acts of 11J and has reduced criminal sanctions for those who act violently against those who protest in the future”, ends the post of the Embassy.
Last Sunday, hehe National Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba approved the new Penal Code, “which responds to the current and prospective political and socioeconomic conditions of the country,” according to a note on the state site Cubadebate.
Just one day later, the Biden administration released a package of measures that reverses several of the policies of former President Donald Trump. On social networks, dozens of Cubans immediately criticized the United States government for rewarding the Havana regime with rapprochement measures.
New Penal Code and rapprochement: Reactions on social networks
The feminist activist Salomé García Bacallao, a member of the group 11J, assured on Facebook that the Biden administration rewarded the new Penal Code approved on the island with “a thaw,” which it considered a “threat to all forms of dissidence in Cuba.”
“Yesterday the Cuban regime approved one of the most severe Penal Codes against dissent and civil society… Today the US Government announces a package of measures that changes the policy of that country towards Cuba… Someone who advises Joe Biden [que] he’s doing really bad.” said on Twitter the activist Magdiel Jorge Castro.
For her part, the art curator and activist Anamely Ramos, who is prevented by the island’s regime from returning to national territory, lamented on Twitter that the United States has opted for a new thaw after the approval of the new Penal Code in Cuba “to better repress” and while “more than 1,000 political prisoners” are kept in the country’s jails, including several minors.
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