'The Cuban people are demanding their freedom from an authoritarian regime': Biden says the US 'stands firmly' with the 'remarkable' protesters and warns communist leaders not to use violence to 'silence' demonstrators

President Joe Biden said Monday that he stands with the 'remarkable' Cuban protesters and 'their clarion call for freedom' amid demonstrations that brought thousands to the streets from Havana to Santiago on Sunday. 

'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,' the president said at the top of a meeting in the Roosevelt Room. 'The US stands firmly with the people of Cuba as they assert their universal rights. And we call on the government of Cuba to refrain from violence in their attempt to silence the voices of the people of Cuba.'  

In a statement earlier Biden said, 'We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba's authoritarian regime.'