DISINFO: The US is trying to unleash a colour revolution in Cuba
SUMMARY
Washington is trying to unleash a colour revolution in Cuba. First, they impose sanctions, then they generate or artificially create problems that worsen the social and economic situation. They provoke tensions and spark anti-government feelings, and when a critical mass is reached, they blame the government. They apply labels to it, discredit its management, and in this way, they take the situation to the limit. This is the same algorithm that they are trying to use in Cuba. This US strategy is not new and has already been employed in other parts of the world to incite colour revolutions against uncomfortable governments.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative against popular protests, aiming to frame them as Western-led colour revolutions.
Though it is true that US restrictions under the Trump Administration contributed to the worsening of the economic situation in Cuba, the discontent of the Cuban population can be attributed to many factors, including tight control of most economic sectors and the growing depression caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which also caused an unprecedented health crisis. This also happened against a background of political contestation led by the so-called San Isidro Movement, made up of young, well-known intellectuals and artists, who can’t be easily labelled as directed or orchestrated from abroad, as the Cuban government has done with previous dissident expressions.
In this context, when protests organised in social media erupted almost simultaneously in two different locations of the island (San Antonio de los Baños, near Havana, and Palma Soriano, in the province of Santiago) on 11 July 2021, they quickly expanded throughout the country. Contrary to the claim, and despite some examples of misinformation/disinformation in social media during the protests (fact-checked in some instances by AFP and Reuters), there is no evidence of any external hand behind this mobilisation, which in any case reached unprecedented participation for Cuban standards.
See other examples in our database, such as claims that the US has extended its influence in Russia and former Warsaw Pact countries by orchestrating colour revolutions, that the West organised a coup in Belarus in the name of democracy, that Poland-based “undesirable” Russian NGOs organise courses on mass riots and drug use, that there is a Western media campaign against Nicaragua, or that the US is funding a colour revolution in Mexico.
This disinformation message appeared in the same article as the claim that “Washington persecutes Capitol protesters on terrorism charges for having different political ideas”.