HAVANA, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Hundreds of Cubans marched peacefully through Havana calling for an end to animal cruelty on Sunday in what organisers believe was the first independent march authorised by the one-party state.
Accompanied by their pets, the activists carried placards calling for an animal protection law and chanted “down with animal abuse” as they walked through the central district of Vedado to the surprise of curious onlookers.
That the Communist government authorised ordinary citizens to stage the march could point to an expanding tolerance for Cubans to express their views and even make demands, albeit still within limits, analysts and participants said.
Authorities still crack down on opposition attempts to hold demonstrations and detain dissidents who they say are subversives in the pay of the United States, however.
It was ironic that the first authorised independent march would be in support of animal and not human rights, but it could be a pilot test for greater freedoms, some march participants said.
“This could be the new Cuba,” said organizer Beatriz Batista, a 21-year-old communications student who received a permit for the march from the municipal authority of her Havana borough.
Previous marches have been largely restricted to those organised by the government to celebrate Cuba’s 1959 leftist revolution or criticise its Cold War foe, the United States, religious processions, and an annual march by gay rights activists under the umbrella of a government organisation.
Sunday’s event was publicised on social media and independent online media.
The government appears to have become more tolerant of and even responsive to online activity since Miguel Diaz-Canel last April replaced Raul Castro as president last April.
Some participants said they hoped in Sunday’s march signalled that people would now be able to take to the streets as well as the web. — NNN-AGENCIES
