A US nuclear submarine arrived at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, but this did not make the Cuban government happy.

The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on the American nuclear submarine, saying, "This constitutes a provocative escalation by the United States, whose political or strategic motives are unknown." The sub was in Guantanamo Bay from July 5 to July 8.

The US remained silent on the matter, with the US State Department telling the Associated Press that "it does not discuss the movements of US military assets."

However, a US Defense official who spoke to the outlet on the condition of anonymity claimed that "the Navy submarine made a scheduled logistics stop at Guantanamo Bay. It then continued south to participate in UNITAS, the world's longest-running multinational maritime exercise."

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller hit back against Cuba's accusations.

"Today is the two-year anniversary of the July 11 protests by the Cuban people demanding their legitimate human rights and of the Cuban government's repressive response," Miller said.

He added that the accusation was an attempt by the Cuban government "to distract the world from the significance of this day."

The 2021 Cuba protests were among the most massive ones that the Caribbean country experienced since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Protesters were expressing their anger over long lines and shortages of food and medicines.

Cuba Blames US for Instigating 2021 Protests During Anniversary

Its citizens are still reeling from the 2021 Cuba protests, which were violently put down by Cuban authorities, jailing dissidents and those who participated. During the second anniversary, though, the Cuban government accused the US of being the one that instigated those protests.

"The United States has a direct responsibility for the disturbances of July 11 and 12, 2021," said the government-run Granma newspaper in its front page editorial. However, Reuters noted that the newspaper did not provide any evidence of such an accusation.

READ MORE: Cuba Holds National Elections, But There Are No Opposition Candidates

The newspaper accused the US of providing funds and openly inciting the protesters to "break the law in acts of robbery and assault."

Its editorial also denounced a "campaign of disinformation and slander" that has been spreading across social networks in Cuba.

"Slander promoted by the White House, related to events it sponsored in 2021, is used as a pretext to maintain a policy of maximum pressure against Cuba," the editorial read.

Little Has Changed in Cuba Since the 2021 Protests

Cuban authorities arrested over 1,500 people during 11 de Julio, the July protests that happened all over Cuba in 2021. Since then, little has changed, and dissent is often put down.

The leader of the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba, Manuel Cuesta Morua, recently spoke with NBC News and stated that the government is trying to teach its dissidents a lesson "because freeing prisoners immediately could be interpreted, in the government's view, as a weakness."

"Today every young Cuban is a political prisoner. A censored artist. An exile inside and outside Cuba," said artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who has been imprisoned after the protests and is leading a hunger strike. "Even if you're an accomplice of the system, you will inevitably be crushed like the others, because to be young is to be daring and reckless, eager to bring change to the world. It means fighting for love, dreams and utopia. But these qualities are considered crimes in Cuba, and that condemns us all to martyrdom."

READ MORE: Pope Francis Wants Cuba to Release Cuban Protesters Arrested in 2021

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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