Dave Sherwood

(Reuters] – Cuban playwright and activist, Juan Carlos Castro, has called for peaceful protests Nov. 15. He said on Thursday that he would be walking alone in silence with a white rose. The plan was made to highlight the nonviolent nature the movement.

Following a request by Archipielago (NASDAQ:) Cuban dissidents to organize a march, authorities declared it illegal. They also accused protesters of conspiring with the United States in order to topple the government.

Yunior Garcia (one of Archipielago’s leading figures) has rejected these arguments. However, he said that violence could have compelled him to reconsider his plans.

Garcia posted on Facebook that Garcia was against the idea of any bloodshed.

“On Sunday, November 14, I will conduct a single march on behalf all citizens who are being deprived by the regime of their right to protest on 15N [Nov. 15]”

However, he did not specify whether he would also be marching on Nov. 15.

Garcia made the announcement hours after Bruno Rodriguez, Cuba’s foreign minister, met with diplomats in Havana and informed them that Cuba wouldn’t allow protests. Garcia’s government claims that Garcia seeks confrontation between protestors and security forces.

Rodriguez stated that “we will not permit it” in remarks broadcast by state television. “We will use laws, our constitutions and strictest respect for the principles of social justice and socialist law in our state.”

Because the planned rallies were set for the day Cuba is opening its borders to foreign tourists, it appears that they touched off with authorities. It has now vaccinated almost its entire population using a homemade inoculation. According to the government, both COVID-19 and death rates have declined sharply.

Archipielago had begun to modify or scale back plans for the Nov. 15 unified march by several other groups. Some supporters have asked that they march together but not to crowd the streets in white.

In solidarity, the movement also calls for “cacerolazo” or pot banging on Sundays and Mondays. Other supporters have been asked to suspend white sheets from windows and balconies.

Garcia called upon the Cuban diaspora living in major cities to organize rallies, and said that the decision shouldn’t have any impact on fellow dissidents.

He wrote in a Facebook post, “May all find innovative and peaceful means to express themselves against violence against others,”