Cubans’ ‘Liberation Day’ rally in Miami marks 5th anniversary of protests

MIAMI — Cuban flags were flying high, and “Nuestro Día Viene Llegando” by Willy Chirino was playing on Saturday during the Liberation Day rally in Miami.

The rally in Little Havana marked the anniversary of Cubans’ nationwide protests on July 11, 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are here to continue to push for what we want, which is true, free change for Cuba,” said Alian Collazo, an activist with the non-profit Cuban Freedom March.

Organizers set the main stage between Miami’s Domino Park and the Tower Theater on Eighth Street and Southwest 15th Avenue.

The Tower Theater showed “Cuba y La Noche,” a documentary about the protesters in Havana’s San Isidro neighborhood, and had an art exhibit with works by Yulier P., Dagoga, El Sexto, Tixxapura, Floyd, Osiris Cisneros, Nando, and Taiko.

The event comes as President Donald Trump puts pressure on the Cuban government after Nicolás Maduro’s capture in Caracas.

Miami Commissioner Rolando Escalona, who was born in Havana, said Cuban Americans need to be prepared for political change on the island.

“If you remove the regime right now, day one, somebody needs to be there to run the country. You can have a committee; you can have a board.”

Andy Gomez, the former director of the University of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, said the Cuban government is divided.

“Raúl’s grandson said he was willing to negotiate directly with President Trump,” Gomez said. “What I know now is he did not have the authority from the full Cuban government to make that kind of statement, so it also tells me, which is what I’ve been seeing, that within the inner circle, his grandfather is 95 years old, within the circle, there’s a struggle.”

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