Biden plans White House meeting with group of Cubans including ex-Miami mayor, Yotuel

The White House is lit red, white and blue on Friday, July 23, 2021, in Washington for the the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Andrew Harnik, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

MIAMI – Yotuel Romero, one of the musicians who created the SOS Cuba protests’ anthem “Patria y Vida”, is among the Cubans who are scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden on Friday afternoon at the White House’s State Dining Room and Palm Room.

The list also includes Rosa Maria Paya, the daughter of the late Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya; former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, the chairman of the Florida Democratic Party; and L. Felice Gorordo, of eMerge Americas, an annual tech conference.

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After the July 11 uprising on the communist island and the protests that followed in Florida and Washington, Biden committed to add more sanctions, engage the international community, help provide uncensored internet, review the policy on remittances and restaff the U.S. embassy in Havana.

Some protesters in Miami-Dade County have been asking Biden for a U.S. military intervention to help get rid of communism in Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Biden said he and his administration was going to listen to leaders in the Cuban American community. Earlier this month, two top officials participated in a virtual meeting with a group that included Emilio and Gloria Estefan.

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For more news on Cuba visit the Local 10 News page in Spanish. Follow the page on Twitter and on Facebook.

Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editors Kerry Weston and Emily Hales contributed to this report.


About the Authors

In January 2017, Hatzel Vela became the first local television journalist in the country to move to Cuba and cover the island from the inside. During his time living and working in Cuba, he covered some of the most significant stories in a post-Fidel Castro Cuba. 

Glenna Milberg joined Local 10 News in September 1999 to report on South Florida's top stories and community issues. She also serves as co-host on Local 10's public affairs broadcast, "This Week in South Florida."

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