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Protests in Cuba do not seek to topple government, Russian envoy says

According to Andery Guskov, "serious supply disruptions" are currently observed with food, medication, fuel and electric power, due to the protests

MOSCOW, July 13. /TASS/. The protest movement in Cuba does not seek to topple the government and is not aimed against the counter-epidemic restrictions, albeit it was sparked by the coronavirus outbreak, Russian Ambassador to Cuba Andery Guskov said in an interview Monday.

"No, this is not an attempt [to topple the government]. This is not against Covid restriction, but it is connected to the Covid outbreak," the diplomat said.

According to the Russian envoy, "serious supply disruptions" are currently observed with food, medication, fuel and electric power, due to the protests.

"People express their desires, express certain frustrations. And the government reacted to all this operatively," Guskov continued.

Earlier, Cuban state TV reported riots in several cities, involving stores being destroyed. Prior to this, mass protests sparked in San Antonio de Los Banos, located 24 km south of Havana. Cuban President Miguel Dias-Canel traveled to the city and urged the defenders of the Cuban revolution to bring order to the streets and to thwart provocations against the authorities.

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