South Florida Rallies For Freedom In Cuba

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - South Florida's Cuban community is expected to take to the streets and attend demonstrations on Monday in a show of solidarity with the people of Cuba.

Over the weekend there were renewed calls for freedom in Cuba. From Versailles restaurant in Little Havana to Bayfront Park, hundreds called for an end to more than six decades of communism in Cuba.

Also Monday, the Cuban people are expected again to take to the streets as they did over the summer, demanding freedom and democracy.

Since those widespread protests back in July, the Cuban government has arrested hundreds of people.

"I know that the regime right now is actually attempting against many of them, they're going into their homes, they're actually getting them, pulling them out of their homes," said Mariela Gimenez, a Cuban activist at a rally on Sunday.

Gimenez, who has been in contact with a few on the island, said Yunior Garcia, an important leader of the 15N movement, was arrested multiple times during July's protest.

Garcia has since been forced to barricade inside his home for walking down the streets of Havana and telling the Cuban people not to be afraid.

Images from social media show a Cuban flag was placed by the Cuban military to block his window. But on Sunday he stuck his hand out holding a white rose, the movement's symbol for friendship and peace.

"His house right now, they surrounded if. So basically, we are here supporting him. They are still going to come out even though the police said if you come out we will repress against you," said Gimenez.

Organizers have often said they know that there is a pipeline directly from Miami to Cuba and they want the Cuban people to know that people in South Florida are also rallying and supporting them.