Cuba Protests Boil Over Into Miami

Florida protesters marching in solidarity with anti-government protesters in Cuba blocked major roads for about an hour on Tuesday. Traffic was halted in both directions along Miami's Palmetto Expressway, also known as State Road 826, near Coral Way at 1:35pm local time Tuesday, as dozens of marchers failed to move, per the Miami Herald. Other roads leading to the Expressway were also blocked. Some protesters waved Cuban flags, while others chanted "libertad" and other messages of solidarity, per WTVJ. Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters blocked a road in Orlando for about an hour, shouting, "If Cuba is on the streets, Orlando will be too" and "Cuba is not alone," per the Orlando Sentinel.

Police ultimately cleared the Orlando protest within an hour using a wall of bicycles, arresting one person for unlawful assembly, per the Sentinel. Florida Highway Patrol and Miami-Dade Police also shooed protesters off the Palmetto Expressway within an hour, though protests along the route continued late into the evening. Later Tuesday, police shut down a road outside Little Havana's Versailles restaurant, where another protest had erupted, per WTVJ. "The safety of our community & safeguarding those that peacefully assemble is our top priority," Miami-Dade Police tweeted, per Complex. "We welcome those that wish to peacefully demonstrate; however, the obstruction of roadways is unacceptable & illegal." (More Florida stories.)