It was two years ago this week that hundreds of thousands of Cubans took to the streets in an unprecedented spectacle of civil activism, pleading for their country to transition to democracy.

Tragically, the main legacy of that heartfelt passion has been an unprecedented surge of repression. The regime arrested so many people from those July 11, 2021, demonstrations that Cuba became the largest jailer of political prisoners in the Americas. Countless prisoners of conscience still endure jailhouse torture, while society in general faces intimidation and maltreatment. The persecution of prodemocracy protesters helped trigger a massive wave of migration that, in just two years, has exceeded 400,000 people and is now considered the largest in Cuban history.

But despite its shameful repression and human rights abuses, Cuba generally faces limited international condemnation for its alliances with states like Russia and China. The European Union, which has initiated motions condemning Cuba’s repression, still continues to fund the regime. During a recent visit, the High Representative of the European Parliament disregarded pleas to take action toward liberating political prisoners.