Faced with the protests of the Cuban population against the Government of that country due to the socioeconomic situation that that nation is going through, the Government of Ecuador issued two statements with different content.

In the image, the president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso.

While the Foreign Ministry statement , now directed by career diplomat Mauricio Montalvo , begins by detailing the situation in Cuba, “aggravated by the pandemic and the persistence of the commercial and financial embargo,” the statement by President Guillermo Lasso begins in solidarity with the people Cuban.

And, on the next line, President Lasso declares: “Cuba deserves to be free, it deserves democracy. Because the lack of basic freedoms and political rights are the real cause of the penalties suffered by citizens”.

In the second paragraph, the Foreign Ministry calls for “respecting fundamental freedoms”, referring to the right to peaceful demonstration and freedom of expression.

In a longer writing, in the third paragraph, Lasso makes a direct call to the Government of Cuba “to start a democratic process to put an end to this situation.”

The Foreign Ministry closes its statement by “vowing for the reestablishment of social peace” and says that the Government of Ecuador is open to cooperate to help beat the situation in the Caribbean country.

At the end, Lasso once again sympathizes with the Cuban people who demand “for a better future where social peace and respect for human rights reign.”

Two different aspects are also highlighted in the Twitter accounts of the Chancellery and Lasso.

The Foreign Ministry says that the Government vows for the restoration of social peace, and Lasso in capital letters sympathizes with Cuba and emphasizes the lack of basic freedoms of political rights as the cause of the “penalties suffered by its citizens.”

The Foreign Ministry statement was issued the day before the president’s statement, on July 16 and July 17, respectively. However, the president’s writing was replicated on the Foreign Ministry’s networks after its publication.

The protests in Cuba began on July 11. (I)