Downey joins growing call for change in Cuba

Downey residents have rallied outside Porto’s Bakery in support of the Cuban population. (Photo by Alex Dominguez)

DOWNEY – A large gathering of Downey’s Cuban residents gathered outside of Porto’s Bakery over the weekend in support of political revolution in Cuba.

The call for the end of the decades-old Cuban dictatorship has rung loud and clear in Downey over the last couple of weeks, as a third rally in support of Cuban revolution took place at the intersection of Downey Avenue and Firestone Boulevard.

Hundreds of individuals, many of which draped in Cuban flags, shouted and chanted, drawing supportive cheers and the honking of horns from the traffic nearby.

Of course, the cries for change in Downey are merely an extension of those already happening in Cuba itself, as the people on the island have grown increasingly frustrated and angry over shortages of basic necessities and lack of freedom, made even more dire against the backdrop of Covid-19.

Rafael Delagrana, a 62-year-old Cuban refugee, says that “the Cuban people have suffered for as long as I have lived.”

“I was very fortunate to come to this great country, but there’s people that were born the same day I was born, they’ve never once had a day of freedom in their lives,” said Delagrana. “That’s very sad.”

Carlos and Betty Garrido, 57 and 56, still have family in Cuba.

“We hear it up front, what is happening in Cuba; the trials, tribulations, everything they are going through,” said Carlos.

Betty described the current time – where talks of Cuban freedom have been brought to the forefront of national attention – as “very emotional.”

“This is the most hope that we’ve had in 62 years, since they’ve been so oppressed and they’ve gone through so much” she said.

“Nobody can understand until you live through something like that. Even though I didn’t live it personally, my parents, my grandparents, I came when I was 4 years old; we have so much connection in Cuba with all our family that’s still there. We know what they’re going through, and nobody can tell us any different.”