Cuban Activist Maykel Osorbo Sews His Mouth Shut in Protest of Mistreatment in Jail

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 18 July 2023 — Cuban artist and dissident, Maykel Castillo aka Osorbo, sentenced to nine years in prison, sewed his mouth last week as a sign of protest against his mistreatment in prison, according to statements made to EFE on Tuesday by sources close to the opponent. The coauthor of Patria y Vida … Continue reading “Cuban Activist Maykel Osorbo Sews His Mouth Shut in Protest of Mistreatment in Jail”

Cuban Activist Maykel Osorbo Threatens to Sew His Mouth Shut Because of Ill-Treatment in Prison

14ymedio, Havana, July 13, 2023 — Cuban activist Anamely Ramos, now in exile in the US, reported this Wednesday on her Facebook profile that rapper Maykel Castillo Osorbo tattooed the slogan “Patria y Vida” on his forearm and that he threatened to sew up his mouth, as a gesture of protest against the mistreatment suffered in the Kilo … Continue reading “Cuban Activist Maykel Osorbo Threatens to Sew His Mouth Shut Because of Ill-Treatment in Prison”

Young Daughter of Cuban Rapper Maykel Osorbos Asks the Summit to Help ‘Free Him’

EFE/14ymedio, Los Angeles/Havana | 9 Junio 2022 — The six-year-old daughter of rapper Maykel Castillo Osorbo, one of the creators of the song Patria y Vida, imprisoned for more than a year in Cuba, asked the leaders participating in the IX Summit of the Americas for help to “free” him. “Gentlemen of the Summit, I am writing to … Continue reading “Young Daughter of Cuban Rapper Maykel Osorbos Asks the Summit to Help ‘Free Him’”

Cuban Rapper Maykel Osorbo Distrusts Prison Doctors to Cure His Illness

14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, November 18, 2021–Cuban activist and art curator Anamely Ramos on Wednesday denounced from Miami that the contrarian rapper, Maykel Castillo Osorbo is at risk in jail, where he has been held in isolation for six months. Maykel Castillo “is sick”, denounced Ramos on her Facebook page, telling how after his six-day hunger and … Continue reading “Cuban Rapper Maykel Osorbo Distrusts Prison Doctors to Cure His Illness”

A Cuban Court Alleges that Otero Alcantara Is Not Ready for ‘Social Reintegration’

14ymedio, Havana, 8 February 2024 — The Provincial Court of Artemisa rejected an application for parole for the Cuban artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, as revealed on Wednesday by art curator Claudia Genlui on her social networks. The leader of the San Isidro Movement was imprisoned in July 2021 and sentenced in … Continue reading “A Cuban Court Alleges that Otero Alcantara Is Not Ready for ‘Social Reintegration’”

Political Police Isolate Opponents During EU Representative Eamon Gilmore’s Visit to Cuba

14ymedio, Madrid, 24 November 2023 — Before the  of the European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, landed in Cuba, State Security had already detained Professor Pedro Albert Sánchez and Dr. Fernándo Vázquez, both activists, who had announced their intention to meet with the Irish senior official. Ana Elvis Amaya, wife of Pedro … Continue reading “Political Police Isolate Opponents During EU Representative Eamon Gilmore’s Visit to Cuba”

Forced Into Exile, Artist Tania Bruguera Says That She Will Return to Cuba in August

14ymedio, Madrid, 3 May 2023 — Cuban artist Tania Bruguera will return to Cuba in August. Or, at least, she will try, according to the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, which interviewed the activist during a visit to Barcelona where she participated in a conference on art and power at the Center for Contemporary Culture (CCCB). … Continue reading “Forced Into Exile, Artist Tania Bruguera Says That She Will Return to Cuba in August”

Cuba Archive Asks Embassies in Cuba to Mediate in the Case of a Political Prisoner

14ymedio, Havana, 14 October 2022 – On Thursday the Cuba Archive organisation requested the international community to mediate in the case of the political prisoner Carlos Manuel Pupo Rodríguez, national coordinator of the Union for a Free Cuba Party. In their petition: Why does it ’not matter’ that Cubans are dying of hunger?, the organisation urges … Continue reading “Cuba Archive Asks Embassies in Cuba to Mediate in the Case of a Political Prisoner”

From Jail, Rapper Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Suggests He is Willing to Leave Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 30 August 2022 — “If a door were opened for me right now, where I could go into exile, brother, I’d go, do you understand?” The words of Maykel Castillo Osorbo, in a telephone conversation from prison with Armando Labrador, owner of the Cántalo TV YouTube channel, suggest that the artist is willing to … Continue reading “From Jail, Rapper Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Suggests He is Willing to Leave Cuba”

The Ordeal of Cuban Dissidents / Ivan Garcia

Ivan García, Desde La Habana, May 2022 — For the act of writing this article, the regime – were they to deem it pertinent to do so – could prosecute me and slap me with up to twenty years in prison, according to the current Law 88 which was approved in February, 1999. For collecting … Continue reading “The Ordeal of Cuban Dissidents / Ivan Garcia”

Anamely Ramos Stands with Photos of ‘Osorbo’ and Otero in Front of the Cuban Embassy in Washington

14ymedio, Havana, 13 March 2022 — “Enough of allowing a dictatorship to set the rules,” said art curator Anamely Ramos, who announced last Friday that she was camping out in front of the Cuban embassy in Washington. “It is my right to return to Cuba. My home is there.” Ramos, who was prevented by the … Continue reading “Anamely Ramos Stands with Photos of ‘Osorbo’ and Otero in Front of the Cuban Embassy in Washington”

Article 24 of the Cuban Migration Law Was Applied to Anamely Ramos, Suggests Humberto Lopez

14ymedio, Havana, 17 February 2022 — The Cuban regime has not ruled on the ban on entering Cuba issued against the activist Anamely Ramos, but Humberto López, presenter on Cuban Television and member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, did. He did so by commenting on a Facebook post by Ramos herself, with a link … Continue reading “Article 24 of the Cuban Migration Law Was Applied to Anamely Ramos, Suggests Humberto Lopez”

The Battle of the Grammys and the Example of Spain

14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, 29 November 2021 — The Cuban regime turns everything into a ridiculous battle. It’s incapable of looking at itself in the mirror. It fears the image of octogenarians defeated by life and takes on a heroic vision of them. Right now, it has transformed the 2021 Latin Grammy awards into … Continue reading “The Battle of the Grammys and the Example of Spain”

A Latin Grammy Award for ‘Patria y Vida’, the Anthem of the Protests in Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, November 18, 2021–Thursday, the song Patria y Vida [Homeland and Life] won the award for Best Urban Song at the Latin Grammys, in Las Vegas, USA. Beatriz Luengo, singer and wife of Cuban Yotuel Romero, one of the songwriters, went up on stage to receive the award. Sung by duo Gente de Zona, Yotuel and Descemer Bueno, … Continue reading “A Latin Grammy Award for ‘Patria y Vida’, the Anthem of the Protests in Cuba”

My No to the Havana Biennial is for the Freedom of Luisma and All Cubans

14ymedio, Julio Llopiz-Casal, Havana, 1 November 2021 — Me, I like to run away from common places (because what I want is to be happy and to not be pedantic), an idea has come to mind. The most interesting artist of the 60s and 70s in Cuba is not Umberto Peña, it is not Servando Cabrera … Continue reading “My No to the Havana Biennial is for the Freedom of Luisma and All Cubans”