Protestors paint ‘Cuba Libre’ on street in front of the Cuban embassy in DC

Demonstrators painted the phrase “Cuba Libre” on the street outside of the Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C., on Friday, a nod to those who protested earlier this week over economic turmoil and calls for regime change in the country.

The painted letters — which translate to “free Cuba” — have associations with the country’s 1959 revolution and Cuba’s independence from Spain, Reuters reported. 

D.C. Department of Public Works spokesperson Erica Cunningham said that crews had come to get rid of “unauthorized painting” on Friday afternoon, according to The Washington Post.

“Despite the systematic policy of confrontation and aggression of the United States government against Cuba, the American diplomats who work in the US Embassy in Havana have always been safe and have never been the object of attacks, or other manifestations of hatred. The Cuban Government expects the same behavior on the US side,” embassy officials told the Post in a statement.

Protesters in Cuba took to the streets starting on Sunday demonstrating against shortages of medicine and food during the pandemic, power outages and increased inflation. The pandemic has also hurt Cuba’s tourism industry.  

Many are hoping the protests — some of the largest seen in decades — will prompt political change. 

On Monday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel blamed the U.S. embargo for “politics of economic asphyxiation,” which he said was having a “cumulative effect” on the country, NBC News reported.

President Biden has said he supports the protesters.

“The Cuban people are demanding their freedom from an authoritarian regime. I don’t think we’ve seen anything like these protests in a long long time if, quite frankly ever,” Biden said Monday. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken refuted claims that protests were “a result or product of anything the United States has done.”

“I think it would be a grievous mistake for the Cuban regime to interpret what is happening in dozens of towns and cities across the island as a result or product of anything the United States has done,” Blinken said. 

The Hill has reached out to the embassy for comment.