Cuba has been thrown into turmoil in the last few days as thousands of protesters have taken to the streets against the ruling party. So far clashes between protesters and police have claimed the life of one man, with many more people reported missing.
Progress, and protests
Cuba's "one state — one party" system of government has ruled the Caribbean island for more than 60 years, but protests have been rare in recent times. Despite a comprehensive set of economic sanctions imposed by the United States, Cuba's economy has progressed steadily in recent decades.
Life expectancy in Cuba is well into the late 70s, similar to the US and many other developed countries. GDP per capita has also grown at a similar rate to the rest of Latin America & the Caribbean, standing at just over $9,000 per head as of 2019, thanks in part to a thriving tourism industry that routinely welcomes more than 4 million tourists a year to Cuba.
Recently however, food and medicine shortages, inflation, and a renewed surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths have sparked unrest in the country. In years gone by those troubles may not have sparked formal protests — which are banned in Cuba — but the latest data suggests that upwards of 60% of Cubans may now have internet access. That has made organizing protests easier — or at least it was until the government completely blocked all access to the internet, a common suppression tactic also used recently in Myanmar.
