Sharjah24 - AFP: Thousands of Cubans took part in rare protests Sunday against the communist government, chanting, "Down with the dictatorship," as President Miguel Diaz-Canel called on his supporters to confront the demonstrators.
The anti-government rallies started spontaneously in several cities as the country endures its worst economic crisis in 30 years, with chronic shortages of electricity and food.
Several hundred protesters marched through the capital Havana chanting, "We want liberty," with a heavy military and police presence deployed after demonstrators massed outside the Capitol building.
Police used tear gas to disperse crowds, and at least ten people were arrested, while officers used plastic pipes to beat protesters, AFP journalists witnessed.
Several thousand protesters -- mainly young people -- also took to the streets of San Antonio de los Banos, a town 30 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of Havana.
Security forces arrived soon after the protests began, and Diaz-Canel later visited the town himself surrounded by party activists as residents heckled him, according to videos posted online.
The president delivered a combative television address, saying: "The order to fight has been given -- into the street, revolutionaries!"
"We call on all revolutionaries of the country, all communists, to go out in the streets where these provocations occur... and to face them in a decisive, firm and courageous way."
Government supporters held some counter-demonstrations in Havana.
Social media showed several anti-government protests around the country, and mobile internet -- only introduced in Cuba since 2018 -- was largely cut off on Sunday afternoon.
The United States reacted swiftly to the day's events.
"We are deeply concerned by 'calls to combat' in Cuba," tweeted Julie Chung, the top US diplomat for Latin America. "We stand by the Cuban people's right for peaceful assembly. We call for calm and condemn any violence."
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