LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A message of Cuban protesters is being seen all over Louisville after a man in a pickup truck slammed into the front doors of Metro Corrections.
Louisville Metro Police say the truck's driver, 41-year-old Michael Perez, is now behind bars charged with wanton endangerment and criminal mischief after he "struck the Louisville Metro Corrections building ... with the intention to cause harm and damage," according to court documents.
Painted on the outside of that truck was the message "Patria Y Vida," a Spanish phrase meaning "Homeland and Life" that has made its way from the Caribbean to downtown Louisville.
Louisville’s Cuban American community showed its support for the residents of Cuba at a gathering Tuesday night.
Hundreds rallied at Big Four Park with signs voicing their frustrations with how they say the Cuban president is treating the country’s residents.
“(The President) don't give you nothing to the people there. Food, medicine, he don't want to accept nothing,” said Yusimet Quinones, who left Cuba 30 years ago. Much of her family is still there.
Chants of “Patria Y Vida” were heard in the crowd has Cuban music blared through speakers. Some even draped Cuban flags on their boats in the Ohio River.
Ruben Plasencia is a Cuban American and NuLu restaurant owner who left Cuba 12 years ago.
With the rest of his family still there, Plasencia said the recent unrest and treatment of the Cuban people by their president is heartbreaking.
“The Cuban people can't kneel down anymore. Communism in Cuba needs to go to an end,” he said. “It's been like 60 years of repression, lies. It's been 60 years of a big jail. Cuba is a big jail.”
Plasencia even wrote his own message of hope on his car, expressing his support for Cuban residents.
“Cuba is fighting for freedom,” he said.
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