Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc.’s tweet echoed Díaz-Canel’s early statements that blamed the U.S. embargo for the country’s economic devastation. Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis in decades and is also facing a resurgence of coronavirus cases... The BLM tweet called for the U.S. to lift the sanctions that are "cruel and inhumane policy, instituted with the explicit intention of destabilizing the country and undermining Cubans’ right to choose their own government, is at the heart of Cuba’s current crisis." Cuba is being "punished by the U.S. government because the country has maintained its commitment to sovereignty and self-determination," the statement read. The group said Cuba has been an ally with "oppressed peoples of African descent" and praised the country’s effort to protect "Black revolutionaries like Assata Shakur."