The award is also dedicated to the memory of the broadcaster’s mother, Zoila Esther Chávez, who died while he was in prison.
Independent journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea, a contributor to 14ymedio, is the winner of the Patmos Institute’s annual award, the organization announced Friday. The award, granted unanimously “for his testimonies of genuine faith and visions of hope,” is also dedicated to the memory of the journalist’s mother, Zoila Esther Chávez, who died while he was in prison awaiting sentencing for protesting last year in Encrucijada, Villa Clara.
“The prize has once again been awarded to a Catholic (Physics) professor, currently a political prisoner since November 8, 2024, and without a sentence having been handed down to him almost a year after his arbitrary confinement,” the Patmos Institute said in a statement, recalling that the first award winner, in 2014, Amador Blanco Hernández, was also a professor, in his case of History.
With this award, the Patmos Institute states in a press release, “it closes a cycle of 12 consecutive years in which an imaginary pendulum began its swing with the award in 2014 to Amador Blanco Hernández, a professor (of History), Catholic, former political prisoner, who was active in the Patmos Institute from its founding [in 2013], until his departure from this world on April 9, 2020.”
The statement recalls that the first award winner, in 2014, Amador Blanco Hernández, was also a professor of History.
Barrenechea, the text continues, “has been active in the Patmos Institute since its founding and continues to this day, and throughout these years he has undergone a process in which, from defining himself as a cultural Catholic, he has moved toward deeper and more existential experiences of faith, especially during the difficult times of tribulation continue reading
Similarly, the statement includes the journalist’s words, sent in a personal message to the evangelical pastor Mario Félix Lleonart, also with a religious meaning: “I will carry the Cross like my Lord, the Lord of my elders, the Lord of us Hispanics. There are values that give meaning to our days, and although it may be terrible for us to face defending them, it is an honor to do so.”
With this, the Institute indicates – which in previous years also awarded political prisoners, such as Sissi Abascal, Félix Navarro, Sayli Navarro, María Cristina and Angélica Garrido or Jorge and Nadir Martín Perdomo – “it is demonstrated that beyond the suffering of the prisoner there is the family, and especially if it is elderly mothers, who depend on only children who have been deprived of caring for them and even burying them.”
Zoila “departed this world, at 84 years old, in the afternoon of Sunday, May 4, without saying goodbye to her son, because the system that keeps her son imprisoned ignored her pleas.”
In the case of Zoila, Barrenechea’s mother, the organization recalls, “she passed away at 84 years old on the afternoon of Sunday, May 4, without saying goodbye to her son, because the system that keeps him imprisoned ignored her pleas.” In her final days, the text denounces, “Zoila stopped eating, consumed by the pain and sadness of not being able to see her son. Despite her delicate health, aggravated by terminal cancer, the authorities at La Pendiente prison, under the command of the repressive Yurianis Speck Rosillo (acting on orders from above), denied Barrenechea permission to say goodbye to his mother. ‘The son will see his mother when she dies,’ was the official response the family received, and so it was done.”
The statement also cites the article that Barrenechea himself sent from prison and which this newspaper published on October 14.
Regarding his biography, Patmos highlights that the journalist has a degree in Physics from the University of Pedagogical Sciences of Villa Clara and describes him as a “very prolific intellectual,” whose texts have been published in several magazines such as Convivencia , Vitral or Hypermedia , as well as in newspapers such as 14ymedio and Diario de Cuba .
“Imprisonment is the latest phase in the system’s persecution of Barrenechea,” the statement continues, recalling the censorship he faces both in publishing in state media and in working as a professor. “In 2019, after receiving a US visa to participate in the Vista Literature Festival in Miami, he was prevented from leaving and his visa expired without him being able to use it, remaining restricted due to political interests,” they explain, adding that “prior to his current imprisonment, he had received numerous police summonses or been subjected to brief detentions.”
“In 2019, after receiving a US visa to participate in a Vista Literature Festival in Miami, he was prevented from leaving and his visa expired.”
Barrenechea was arrested a few days after participating in the cacerolazo* in Encrucijada that took place on November 7, 2024. His request to be released pending trial was rejected and he was only allowed to leave prison to attend his mother’s funeral (but not to visit her when she was already seriously ill).
The trial took place last September , and the prosecution requested a six-year prison sentence for Barrenechea, and up to nine years for one of the other two of the five defendants. According to the prosecution’s brief , the defendants—with three pots “that could not be used”—led a pot-banging protest in the town of Encrucijada, taking advantage of “the lack of electricity caused by the power crisis in the country.”
The protest, with its “incessant ringing” and “high decibel levels,” was accompanied by repeated shouts of “Turn on the electricity, we want electricity!” The prosecution argued that this “disturbed the peace” and “obstructed traffic on public roads.”
*A protest consisting of banging on pots and pans
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
