For the diaspora in Miami, the holding of the protests is “a great victory for the Cuban people.”

(CNN Spanish) – Historically, Miami and South Florida have been a sounding board for what is happening in Cuba and this has become visible during the protests that took place on the island in July. Perhaps the phenomenon will be repeated this November 15 during a call that aims to demand democratic reforms to the political system of the Caribbean nation, as well as the release of political prisoners. What does the diaspora think of the mobilization on the island?

The demonstrations of support in South Florida for the Cuban protest are palpable not only in the statements of exile and diaspora representatives, but also in the streets. CNN has been able to verify that the message #SOSCuba written on the windshields and windows of homes in Miami is part of the movement that has led thousands of people inside and outside of Cuba to demonstrate in the face of the economic crisis and shortages, fueled by the pandemic of covid-19.

“All Cubans I think that day we will be looking towards the island to see what happens,” Pedro López, director of the Cuban National Coordinator, made up of organizations in exile, told CNN.

López assures that the peaceful demonstrations of November 15, called by the Archipelago civic group, are a follow-up to the “popular explosion” of July 11, the day in which thousands of Cubans took to the streets to protest the lack of food and medicines, while the country is going through a serious economic crisis exacerbated by the pandemic and US sanctions.

“I think everyone was surprised by what happened on July 11, because July 11 was a generalized explosion throughout the island, but spontaneously, not called by any opposition leader, not called by any group, but simply something that nuanced and made explode the popular anger repressed for so many years, ”said López, who believes that what happened that day was“ a summation of what each Cuban has done during these 62 years, all the generations of Cubans within and outside of Cuba ”.

In Miami there is also mobilization, but the focus of attention is Cuba

The Democracy Movement – an organization that according to its leader Ramón Saúl Sánchez “introduced nonviolent civic struggle into Cuban exile” – organized a day in solidarity with the Civic March for Change in Cuba on November 14 in Miami Bay. One day before the protests scheduled on the Caribbean island.

Join the car caravan at 9:00 in the morning at the Memorial to the Fallen on Coral Way and 112 Avenue, which will travel until it meets at 12:00 PM with the Democracy Flotilla and walk rally on Biscayne Blvd and Calle 8 del NE. We are waiting for you Homeland and life! pic.twitter.com/ZvDhTbLZNa

– Ramon Saul Sanchez (@saulsanchez) November 3, 2021

“The fact that we have been forced to leave our country does not exclude us as Cuban citizens, it does not exclude us as people we love and demand democracy, civil rights, social justice, national sovereignty for our country,” Sánchez told CNN, who He indicated that Sunday’s event is a way of expressing to the internal movement and to civil society its solidarity “as an integral part of the Cuban nation.”

According to a interactive map Created by Cuban activist and engineer Yan Estrada, until this Thursday more than 110 cities around the world will hold marches in support of the November 15 mobilization in Cuba.

“As a result of all this movement created by Yunior García Aguilera and Archipiélago, we Cubans outside organized ourselves and decided to give the greatest show of support that has been given so far to the people inside Cuba,” Estrada said in an interview with Conclusions from CNN.

For his part, Francisco “Pepe” Hernández, director of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), based in Miami, told CNN that they will have communication centers so that people who participate in the mobilizations from the island can communicate with the telephones in Miami “and then to be able to distribute the information about what is happening.”

However, Hernández commented that although they want to help as much as possible, they do not want to take attention away from what is happening inside Cuba. “All the attention, absolutely all the attention, ours and the attention of the media in the United States and throughout the world must be not on what is happening in Miami, but on what is happening within the island at this time. “, he indicated.

The exile responds to the accusations of the Government of Cuba

The Cuban government has described the planned marches as a pretext invented by Cuban exiles and the United States government that would lead to an invasion of Cuba “by the enemy.”

“The promoters [de la protesta], their public projections and links with subversive organizations or agencies financed by the United States Government have the open intention of changing the political system of our country ”, said the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, in a speech before the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba in October.

However, Sánchez affirms that the movement was born within Cuba and that it has many followers within the island “but it also has them in exile.”

CANF reported in a press release having been accused, along with other diaspora organizations, of inciting and organizing protests in Cuba. “This is totally false and the regime knows it very well, which knows and fears the genuinely indigenous character of these demonstrations,” the statement published in October reads.

“What they can be sure of is that they will find the CANF in common cause with all those, Cubans or foreigners, who seek to open paths of solidarity to the Cuban people that will lead to a bloodless transition towards democracy, justice and peace for the Cuban people. all, and for the good of all Cubans. “

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla blamed the Biden government for plans by opposition groups to hold peaceful protests in Cuba on Monday, even though Cuban officials have vowed not to allow the demonstrations to take place.

For his part, López said that although the Cuban government could try to control the call for the march on Monday through blockades, it would not be possible to control every person within the population. “You You can try to block an opposition leader or an opposition activist from leaving their home, but you cannot block each Cuban from leaving their home, “he said.

“Whatever happens on Monday, I think it is a great victory for the Cuban people,” said López.

CNN’s Germán Padinger and Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report.