Cuba blames US after Molotov Cocktail 'Terrorist Attack' at Paris Embassy amid sanctions

Late Monday, July 26, a top Cuban official took to Twitter to describe a Molotov cocktail attack on Havana's embassy in Paris, blaming the US government's rhetoric in the aftermath of the country's historic uprisings. Three Molotov cocktails were thrown at the building, and two of them hit it, causing a brief fire that was put out by diplomats, according to Cuba. Police and firefighters from France arrived on the site. Molotov cocktails are bottle-based improvised explosives also known as petrol bombs, gasoline bombs, bottle bombs, poor man's grenades, fire bombs, or just Molotov, often shortened to Molly. 

In a statement announcing the attack, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez gave no details about the incident and blamed it on the US government. He resorted to Twitter to express his displeasure with Washington. In the tweet, he wrote, “I hold the U.S. Government responsible for its continuous campaigns against our country that encourage these behaviors and for calls for violence, with impunity, from its territory,” he said. Here's the tweet:

Cuba’s Foreign Ministry denounces the "terrorist attack"

Since protests erupted earlier this month, the Cuban government has blamed the United States. Havana initially accused Washington of staging the protests before criticizing the embargo, which it claims suffocates the Cuban economy. Cuba's Foreign Ministry issued a statement denouncing the "terrorist attack" and saying that "those directly accountable for these atrocities are those who incite violence and hatred against our country."

Demonstrations against and for Cuban embassies have taken place in various places throughout the world during the last three weeks. In response to protests that erupted across the island on July 11 and 12, Cuba's government issued a statement. Cuba has accused the United States of orchestrating a social media campaign aimed at destabilizing the Caribbean country, which is suffering from a severe economic crisis compounded by the coronavirus pandemic and US sanctions.

In response to the 'unprecedented,' deadly protests that shook the island on July 11 and 12, Cuban embassies in several locations throughout the world have become the site of demonstrations both for and against the Cuban government. Thousands of anti-Cuban regime demonstrators gathered outside the White House on Sunday and stayed overnight into Monday to demand Joe Biden to do more to address socialist Miguel Daz-crimes Canel's against the Cuban people.

Protesters held Candlelight Vigil at midnight

While the majority of demonstrators arrived from Miami and other regions of Florida, Texas and New Jersey were also represented. Due to its proximity to the island, Florida is home to more than 1.5 million Cubans, making it the state with the largest Cuban population. At midnight, the group staged a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 26th of July Movement, a Cuban national festival honoring Fidel Castro's first effort to depose then-Cuban tyrant Fulgencio Batista in 1953.

Biden Condemns Cuba for Crackdown on Freedom Protesters 

President Joe Biden of the United States slammed the Cuban government on Thursday for its repression of anti-government demonstrators on the island nation, imposing sanctions on the head of the Cuban military and the internal security division that spearheaded the attacks.

“I unequivocally condemn the mass detentions and sham trials that are unjustly sentencing to prison those who dared to speak out in an effort to intimidate and threaten the Cuban people into silence,” Biden stated while announcing the sanctions. "The Cuban people have the same right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly as all people,” Biden said. “The United States stands with the brave Cubans who have taken to the streets to oppose 62 years of repression under a communist regime.”