The U.S. State Department was criticized Sunday over a tweet that tied the historic protests that broke out in Cuba to COVID-19 concerns in the country where people have been living under communism for decades.
Julie Chung, the acting assistant secretary for the department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, posted, “Peaceful protests are growing in Cuba as the Cuban people exercise their right to peaceful assembly to express concern about rising COVID case/deaths & medicine shortage. We commend the numerous efforts of the Cuban people mobilizing donations to help neighbors.”
SOCIALIST SANDERS MUM ON PROTESTS
Chung’s Twitter bio says that tweets from her are signed with a “JC.” The tweet in question did not carry her initials. The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News for clarification.
Reports out of the country said protesters chanted “Freedom,” “Enough,” and “We Want Liberty.” Critics say the COVID-19 crisis seems to be on the periphery of the country’s discontent.
Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis in decades, along with a resurgence of coronavirus cases, as it suffers the consequences of U.S. sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, called the tweet from the State Department “ridiculous.”