‘Individuals who have lost their fear,’ Cubans continue to fight for their freedom – News-Press

Collier County Cuban community hold rally in support of their Cuban countrymen

Collier County Cuban community hold rally in support of their Cuban countrymen

Jon Austria, Naples Daily News

Nearly 30 years ago, Amanda Benitez's parents immigrated to the United States from Cuba searching for freedom.

Her father, Jorge Benitez, fled Cuba by boat with his family and friends without the permission of the Cuban government, risking their lives to be free. Her mother, Elizabeth Benitez, was able to make the trip by plane, and didn't know Jorge Benitez at the time.

Both settling in Miami, a place many refer to as the haven for Cuban exiles, the two met and now live in Cape Coral with their family.

It's been 30 years since they fled their country longing for the freedoms the United States had to offer, and now Cubans have taken to the streets of their cities protesting their government to get that same freedom.

Protests in Cuba began July 11, and it'sconsidered the country's biggest anti-government movementin the past 30 years.

Almost immediately,Cuban-Americans and supporters across Southwest Florida stoodwith their friends, family and countrymen from the island some200 miles to the south by holding demonstrations of their own.

The demonstrations in Southwest Florida are said to continue for as long as protests continue in Cuba.

Read: 'We will keep coming out until something happens': Cuban community continues to show support in Collier

Read: 'Patria y Vida': Naples, Fort Myers demonstrators flood downtown area in support of freedom for Cuba

Amanda Benitez, 19, a University of Florida student, strives to one day be a lawyer practicing international law.

Cuban people are realizing they have potential and it is being waisted in a county that doesn't allow them to succeed, Benitez said.

"The dream is to be as successful in their nation as they can be elsewhere," she said.

The protesting in Cuba isn't something that started out of no here. They have been living in oppression and silence for 62 years, but Benitez believes a multitude of factors contributed to Cubans speaking up and fighting back now.

They have lived under a dictatorship for decades and they are seeing how other nations live, realizing their way of life doesn't make sense, Benitez said.

Once COVID-19 struck, itexacerbated Cuba's issues, she said. Their food and medicine became even more scarce.

From what Benitez can tell, the protests started city by city and there hasn't been a proclaimed leader or movement.

"I see an entire nation of individuals who have lost their fear because they will already lose their lives to the conditions," she said.

She hopes Cubans don't give up protesting because it is a fight worth fighting.

So many people have already died and been murdered, children have been abducted from their homes and forced to fight against the protesters. And if Cubans who live on the islandrefuse to battle back against protesters, it is punishable by death,Benitez said.

The protesters are fighting with rocks and sticks because they have hadno weapons since Fidel Castro ruled Cuba from1959 to 2008. Castrodied in 2016.

She hopesthe United States and other nations help the Cuban people by giving them real resources like military intervention since they'refighting a heavily armed military.

Since the protesting began, there has been power outages and limited access to internet, another resource Benitez hopes the U.S.can provide to Cuba.

"Internet access has been shut off so information can't disseminate throughout the people and so people can't see what's going on there," Benitez said.

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'Individuals who have lost their fear,' Cubans continue to fight for their freedom - News-Press