14YMEDIO, Havana, 28 August 2014 – In an escalation that started weeks ago, another member of the editorial board of Convivencia (Coexistence) magazine has been summoned by the police. This Wednesday Javier Valdes received a citation for the following day at 5:00 PM, at the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) station in Pinar del Rio. Other notifications were sent a couple of weeks ago to Karina Galvez, Juan Carlos Fernandez and William Rodriguez, members of the editorial team and collaborators on the independent publication.
Convivencia is a magazine created in the westernmost Cuban province, that recently celebrated its sixth anniversary and 40 issues. Its topics include culture, civil society, debates about the economy and politics, but also cover pastoral and ethical issues. Since its inception, the publication has been the object of police pressure and its director, Dagoberto Valdes, has been treated especially aggressively in the official media.
Pressures have also come from the General Customs of the Republic, who confiscated cameras and laptops from Karina Galvez and Juan Carlos Fernández after a recent trip abroad.