BLM Foundation's Statement About Cuba Getting Backlash

Keka Araujo says the past week has been filled with sleepless nights, worrying about her family in Cuba.

“We’re not sleeping,” Araujo said. “When we finally do talk to somebody, it’s very emotional. There are a lot of tears.”

She says those emotions boiled over when she saw a post from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation on Instagram weighing in on the crisis.

“The first emotion was, who the hell wrote this?” Araujo said.

The post -- which is getting lots of backlash from Cubans -- states in part: "Black Lives Matter condemns the U.S. federal government’s inhumane treatment of Cubans and urges it to immediately lift the economic embargo."

It later states: "The U.S. government has only instigated suffering for the country’s 11 million people, of which 4 million are Black and Brown."

Araujo, who is Black and Cuban and works as an editor for Black Enterprise, says the post misses the mark.

“You’re saying in this statement that Cuban people are suffering because of an embargo or a sanction from the U.S. and Israel and that is the smallest part of the truth,” she said.

The statement never mentions the Cuban government or the dictatorship Cubans have lived under for more than 60 years.

NBC 6 spoke with a leader from Black Lives Matter Alliance of Broward about the statement.

She says her group is not officially affiliated with the national BLM organization and thinks the post misses the point.

“I think it missed the mark of seeking the full perspective of everything that’s happening in Cuba,” said Jasmen Rogers with BLM Alliance of Broward.

“The voices on the ground are talking about the direct impacts of their government, police force, and military that is acting violently right here and right now,” Rogers said.

Araujo says the focus needs to be getting help to people on the island.

“More than an embargo, more than a sanction, we just want our families to be okay,” Araujo said. “We want to stop seeing them be killed in the streets.”