{"id":194436,"date":"2026-03-17T03:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T03:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/194436\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T03:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T03:34:08","slug":"exiles-plan-protest-as-nuestra-america-flotilla-nears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/194436\/","title":{"rendered":"Exiles plan protest as Nuestra Am\u00e9rica flotilla nears"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several exile organizations announced Monday there will be a gathering in Miami on March 21 to demand the right of Cubans abroad to return to Cuba and for the U.S. government to allow them to take a boat from Miami carrying aid for dissidents on the island.<\/a><\/p>\n

The meeting will take place the same day the convoy that has been named \u201cNuestra Am\u00e9rica\u201d<\/a> is expected to arrive in Cuba. That flotilla, made up of leftist organizations, intends to deliver more than 20 tons of food, medicine and solar power equipment to the island.<\/p>\n

At a March 16 press conference, a group of activists led by Ram\u00f3n Sa\u00fal S\u00e1nchez, president of Movimiento Democracia, called for more support from President Donald Trump\u2019s administration for Cubans inside the island.<\/p>\n

Amid a deep humanitarian crisis and blackouts lasting more than 20 hours a day, Cubans are taking to the streets<\/a> to express their discontent with pot-banging protests and demanding freedom.<\/p>\n

Early Saturday, protesters in the town of Mor\u00f3n, in Ciego de \u00c1vila province<\/a>, tried to set fire to the local Communist Party office while shouting \u201cDown with communism!\u201d A young man was wounded by a police gunshot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here to back the people of Cuba who are coming out in massive protests,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said at a press conference at Lummus Park, along the Miami River.<\/p>\n

The same park will host Saturday\u2019s gathering, which aims to push the goal of returning to the island. Return has been particularly difficult for people whom the Cuban government bars from entry because of their civic activism in favor of Cuban citiezens\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez has organized several flotillas in Miami that, arriving at waters off the coast of Cuba, sought to support the island\u2019s residents, especially after the 1994 rafter exodus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask the administration to cut ties with the regime and connect with the people of Cuba, to support the demonstrations, restore internet access and warn the tyrants that if they repress the protesters they will feel the weight of the United States,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said, adding his group had sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.<\/p>\n

On March 13, Cuban leader Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel confirmed talks<\/a> between representatives of Cuba and the United States, which U.S. media outlets, including the Miami Herald, had been reporting for weeks.<\/p>\n

Return to Cuba<\/p>\n

In South Florida, the goal of returning has grown stronger for many Cubans who want to take part in helping rebuild the island.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe the right to return is as important as the release of political prisoners if we are thinking about real change in Cuba,\u201d activist Anamely Ramos, a historian and member of the Observatorio de Derechos Culturales, told el Nuevo Herald on Friday.<\/p>\n

\"Olga Olga Gomez feels a cool breeze as she and her husband, Feliz Cifuentes, right, participate with Movimiento Democracia, along with the Movement of Opponents for a New Republic (MONR) and several prominent activists, in a press conference Monday at Lummus Park in Miami, Florida. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Activists Salom\u00e9 Garc\u00eda, who focuses on publicizing the plight of political prisoners in Cuba, and Norges Rodr\u00edguez, director of YucaByte, which covers censorship and violations of the right to information in Cuba, also demanded that right at the press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cCuba must be rebuilt, and that cannot be done by turning our backs on those of us who left,\u201d said Ramos, who attempted to return to the island in 2022 but was prevented from doing so by the Cuban government.<\/p>\n

The convoy to Havana<\/p>\n

While many Cubans are barred from returning to their homeland, the Nuestra Am\u00e9rica convoy<\/a> will set out from Mexico headed for Cuba. It has the support of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who took part in the Global Sumud flotilla that attempted to take aid to the Gaza Strip in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Cuban regime is allowing foreigners to enter to bring humanitarian aid, it must allow Cubans in,\u201d Ramos said, stressing that the groups aiming to bring aid to Cuba have peaceful, humanitarian goals.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez said he does not oppose foreign groups bringing aid to Cubans on the island, but he drew a distinction by asserting that Cubans are \u201chungry because of the father of Mariela Castro.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castro, daughter of former leader Ra\u00fal Castro, is the organizer of the convoy Nuestra Am\u00e9rica, S\u00e1nchez said. The flotilla will stop off the Havana Malec\u00f3n seawall.<\/p>\n

\"In In the center, Guz Garcia holds a banner of the many Cuban activists who have been persecuted by the regime as Movimiento Democracia, along with the Movement of Opponents for a New Republic (MONR) and several notable activists, held a press conference to discuss the denied Right to Return for Cuban exiles to their homeland, March 16, 2026, in Miami, Florida. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

\u201cWe tell the people of Cuba: \u2018Go to the Malec\u00f3n,\u2019 so that the aid sent by the people of Mexico can be handed to them directly,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said. Mexican news outlets like Azteca Noticias reported last week that aid sent from Mexico was being sold in island stores that sell goods in dollars.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez invited boat owners in Miami to come to Lummus Park by the river this Saturday. There are no plans dfor a flotilla promoted by Movimiento Democracia to sail from Miami for now. They first need to obtain a temporary permit from the U.S. government that would allow travel to Cuba. A proclamation issued by the Bill Clinton administration in 1996, after the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft by Cuban jet fighters, remains in effect and, as a security measure, restricts movement of U.S. boats to Cuba.<\/p>\n

\u201cReturning to one\u2019s native land is a human right,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said. \u201cIf the sea and entry can be opened to foreigners, it must also be opened to Cubans.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Sarah Moreno<\/a><\/p>\n

el Nuevo Herald<\/p>\n

Sarah Moreno cubre temas de negocios, entretenimiento y tendencias en el sur de la Florida. Se gradu\u00f3 de la Universidad de La Habana y de Florida International University. @SarahMoreno1585\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Several exile organizations announced Monday there will be a gathering in Miami on March 21 to demand the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[90394,996,123,90392,125,124,90395,90393],"class_list":{"0":"post-194436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-cuban-exiles","9":"tag-humanitarian-aid","10":"tag-miami","11":"tag-miami-gathering","12":"tag-miami-headlines","13":"tag-miami-news","14":"tag-nuestra-america-flotilla","15":"tag-right-to-return"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}