WASHINGTON (WSVN) — Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of the nation’s capital to make a plea to President Joe Biden in a march that took them from just outside the White House to the Cuban Embassy.
The group began what they called a human rights march at 2 p.m. on Monday.
Demonstrators set out from Lafayette Square Park, where they had gathered in the morning, and marched for over 40 minutes each way in the sweltering heat.
“If Cuba is out on the street, we are, too,” protesters chanted in Spanish.
As she walked alongside the other marchers, Carol Cal said it is imperative that the Biden administration takes action.
“I came all the way from Nebraska to tell the whole world that we need help. We need Biden to do something for us,” she said. “There are many Cubans who voted for him, and now we need him.”
“Most of the people you see out here, I don’t know them, but they’re all my brothers from now, and sisters,” said protester Rigoberto Guerra. “We’re all fighting for one same cause, and what’s that cause? We want freedom.”
“I’m a Cuban American, came to the United States in 1961. My grandparents, my parents, my aunts and uncles have died, have not seen Cuba anywhere near to the point where we’re in today,” said a woman, “and I’m here especially for my Uncle Benny, who was a political prisoner for eight years in Cuba. I want people to start realizing and not being blind to what’s going on in Cuba.”
Metropolitan Police officers and members of the Secret Service supervised the march as protesters made their way down streets that were shut down.
The heat and humidity caused marchers to stop to get water and seek cover from the sun, but they were cheered on by onlookers, including a woman who banged on a pot.
Prior to the march, protester Luis Lechuga pointed out the significance of the date.
“Today, July 26, was the regime’s independence, so that’s why this is so vital, because what we’re doing right now is we are telling them, we are attacking their day,” he said. “We’re telling them, ‘This day no longer belongs to you. We’re taking it back.'”
Once they reached the Cuban Embassy, protesters continued their chants for freedom. They also sang songs and played salsa and reggaeton.
7News cameras captured a demonstrator burning a Cuban passport.
The event unfolded as Cuban exiles and lawmakers from South Florida call for action to bring freedom to the communist island.
Protesters said the Cuban people face threats and physical violence from the authorities on a daily basis.
“Because they’re also, like, threatening and just hitting everybody, and that’s just wrong,” said a protester who identified herself as Carolina.
“People are getting killed. They’re getting abused. It’s not about vaccines. This is about people wanting freedom,” said protester Diana McPherson. “This is 62 years of humanitarian abuse. It’s enough.”
Sunday night, protesters who traveled to Washington, D.C. chanted and demonstrated outside the White House from Lafayette Square, the starting point of Monday’s march.
Cubans from all over the United States traveled to Washington, D.C. to be a part of the protests.
One of them, Ashley Morgade, is a South Florida native.
“We are here to give them a voice. We are here to make sure that they know all the crimes that are being committed, everything that’s being done over there and make sure that they have a voice and that this nation, the nation that represents freedom and liberty and democracy, is gonna help other nations that need us the most,” she said.
As late as 10 p.m., Monday, a small group of protesters remained at Lafayette Square.
Between 500 and 1,000 people are estimated to have taken part in the march.
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