Singer Gloria Estefan urges global support for Cuban protesters

By Arlene Eiras

(Reuters) – Cuban-born pop star Gloria Estefan on Friday urged the United Nations to sentence the Communist authorities in Havana for its suppression of mass protests.

Estefan, 63, who left Cuba for the US along with her household when she was two years previous, stated she hoped the Cuban police and army would throw their assist behind the protests.

“I name on the United Nations to sentence the Cuban authorities and their ways towards their very own folks, that they’re utilizing violence, that individuals are disappearing, that they’ve killed folks,” the “Flip the Beat Round” singer advised Reuters in an interview.

1000’s took to the streets https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/street-protests-break-out-cuba-2021-07-11 in cities round Cuba final Sunday to protest energy outages, a COVID-19 surge, widespread shortages of primary items and the one-party system.

The protests, the largest in many years in Cuba petered out this week as safety forces have been deployed and authorities supporters mobilized.

“My hopes are that there are sufficient folks within the police and within the army that’s going to start out some type of motion the place they don’t repress the folks, the place they get up for the those that they’re supposed to guard, as an alternative of the federal government,” Estefan stated.

U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet referred to as on Cuba on Friday to launch protesters and journalists arrested on the demonstrations and denounced alleged extreme use of drive towards a few of them.

Estefan, a 3 time Grammy winner, stated she was pleased with the younger folks in Cuba who risked their lives to protest.

“It’s very simple to talk from a place of freedom and luxury. They’re doing the troublesome work and I applaud them from the underside of my coronary heart and I thank them for being so courageous,” she stated.

(Reporting by Reuters Tv; modifying by Diane Craft)