The Cuban government is back on track again. This time it has given the sentence of 5 years imprisonment to the writer Ángel Santiesteban Prats. They have used the same method of waiting for the weekend for a repressive action, considering that most of the foreign media in Cuba takes a couple of days off.
There is not much I have to say about Angel, only that half of Cuba has read his heartbreaking stories and that’s a lot. His stories are full of the fate of those who do not believe in luck. Ángel Santiesteban was a member of the promoted group los Novísimos* (The Newest), pushed into the limelight by the unparalleled Salvador Redonet.
His book on the Angola War was not seen in bookstores for years after having won a prize and sleeping the sleep of the of the sleeping manuscript. It is an uncomfortable book when we consider that its value lies in the anti-heroes who speak freely. Now when they want to lock him up on false charges, already thrown out by a court, this cheerful boy has returned to the ring, touring the island giving public lectures and offering his opinion in literary competitions.
The crime that passes as a shout on everyone’s lips is that this guy became “uncomfortable.” that the Cuban Institute of the Book doesn’t consider it a priority to address the claims of those who speak without restrictions and the Ministry of Culture is one more department in the Central Committee Communist Party of Cuba.
The clock has begun to challenge us, this week we will take a strong campaign for his complete freedom, remember it well, writers and artists from Cuba, Angel is one more figure in the witch hunt that stretches to 54 years of abuse. Let’s do something.
*Translator’s note: Los Novisímos are the “second generation” of “new” writers and artists.
February 2 2013
