Salazar Announces New App to Allow Cuban Protestors to Bypass Censorship on Third Anniversary of the Historic July 11 Protests

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) commemorated the third anniversary of the historic July 11 protests that swept the Cuban people in 2021. Following her initial remarks, she announced a new phone app called Delta Chat that will allow the Cuban people to retain Internet connection, even when the dictatorship shuts off broad access like they did during the July 11 protests.

With the critical technology that Delta Chat will provide to the Cuban people, protestors will have the ability to organize more efficiently, actively document what is happening, and show the world the repression they face from the communist regime.

“Three years ago today, brave Cubans took to the streets protesting for freedom and an end to the regime’s oppression. The communist Cuban regime beat them and brutalized them, and when the protestors tried to communicate their cries for liberty, they shut down their Internet access through ETECSA,” said Rep. Salazar. “There is a new app called Delta Chat, and I encourage every Cuban to download it right now. Because the next time you take to the streets to shout for liberty and to cry for ‘Patria y Vida’, ETECSA will shut your Internet down again. But this time, they will fail.”

The State Department notified Congresswoman Salazar that an app called Delta Chat has the capability to allow the Cuban people to retain access to the Internet during protests, even when the Cuban state-owned telecommunications agency ETECSA shuts it off like it did during the July 11 protests.

Normally, the Cuban government will shut down access to the Internet for the general public while keeping their own servers operating so officials can communicate amongst themselves. The new app will allow ordinary Cubans to access the Internet through the regime’s own networks, bypassing the attempted censorship.

This development is a game changer, as the Cuban people will now be able to effectively organize and document the abuses of the regime more easily.

Congresswoman Salazar also remembered the anniversary of the historic protests by introducing a resolution with Representatives Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR), Carlos Giménez (R-FL), and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) which documents the crimes of the regime and rejects any change in US policy without a democratic opening in Cuba.

For more information on how the Congresswoman is holding the Cuban regime accountable for its crimes against the Cuban people, click here.

To watch the Congresswoman’s full remarks in English, click here. To watch them in Spanish, click here.

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