The Cuban government organizes a demonstration of “revolutionary reaffirmation” in Havana

(CNN) – The Cuban government organized a massive demonstration in Havana on Saturday that was billed as a “revolutionary reaffirmation,” following historic protests earlier in the week calling for change in Cuba.

With Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and former Cuban leader Raúl Castro leading the crowd, the gathering of what the government said were tens of thousands of people is the largest the Cuban government has brought together during the pandemic.

Cuban officials organized the rally after US President Joe Biden called the communist island a “failed state” on Thursday.

Shouts of “Down with the Yankees!”

From a point across the street from the US Embassy in Havana, Díaz-Canel said his government’s harsh crackdown on protesters had been misrepresented.

“Right now, what the world is seeing from Cuba is a lie, the people oppose the government and a government that represses its people,” he said. “It is not strange that some people have doubts under this media bombardment, and they are caused by a supposed separation that does not exist.”

Despite Diaz-Canel’s claims, social media was filled with videos of Cuban police and supporters forcibly arresting protesters.

The Cuban government, which brought many of its supporters by bus, said that the massive demonstration complied with “sanitary measures”, while the island registers the highest number of cases and deaths from covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.