They emphasize students’ willingness to engage in dialogue, but point out that the conditions for this “cannot be imposed from above.”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 June 2024 — Cuban academics continue to refuse to submit to the pressures of the Regime. This Saturday an official statement of the of the Audiovisual Media of the Higher Institute of Art (ISA) Faculty was added to individual complaints made by several students on social networks and in assemblies. The document refers to the “aggressive and indolent” attitude of Etecsa — the State telecommunications company — and State Security, and the harassment of students and the institution. It also disconnects the ISA from the multidisciplinary group created by the Federación Estudiantil Universitaria (FEU) to address the Etecsa rate hikes, dubbed el Tarifazo.
The faculty put forward three main reasons: the State-run communications department manages meetings on its premises and “on its own terms,” leaving teachers and other professionals out of the debate and establishing a “route” to follow where the solution has been to offer “perks that exclude large segments of the population.” Second, the students found it “unacceptable” to keep the new rates in place amid discussions about their unpopularity and called for their temporary cessation.
They also stated that they will only admit a commission for the debate if it has the participation of teachers, students and “specialists from civil society.” Finally, the fourth point focuses on denouncing the “pressure” exerted by State Security on several students who protested against the tarifazo, which “merely confirms the authorities’ vertical and aggressive attitude towards a horizontal and peaceful student movement.”
Students who have been “flagged by State Security” will sit out the activism to protect their physical integrity
The text emphasizes the students’ willingness to have a dialogue but notes that the conditions for this “cannot be imposed from above.” It also announces that students who have been “flagged by State Security” will sit out the activism to protect their physical integrity and that the Faculty will not promote independent activities “until a consensus among universities has been consolidated.”
Raymar Aguado Hernández, one of the activists who openly supported the protests from Havana and who has also been intimidated by the authorities, published a complaint on social networks Saturday against the repression exercised by the political police against students. “The student strike in Cuban universities was not stopped organically by the majority will of the students, but because of the harassment and intimidation carried out by the repressive organs of the State against several students, members of their families and part of the teaching staff who supported it,” said the activist.
According to the 24-year-old, who dropped out of a career in psychology in 2022 because of the Regime’s harassment, “students’ demands were ignored by government authorities.” Instead of a dialogue, the State unleashed a “witch hunt,” he says.
“Denunciation of harassment and repression is the only form of protection that citizens have against abuses by the government and its law enforcement agencies”
“Allegations of harassment and intimidation against the students by State Security were made public from different faculties in the country,” said Aguado, who placed the focus of protests mainly on schools in the capital and in the provinces of Las Tunas, Villa Clara and Granma.
He also criticized the multidisciplinary group, which he described as “a handful of minions handpicked by different levels of political power. In short, it is only a well-orchestrated staging to give the false image of popular support, horizontality, democracy and consensus.”
Aguado stressed the need to make visible the “forms of repression” suffered by the students. “Denunciation of harassment and repression is the only form of protection for citizens against abuses by the government and its law enforcement agencies. It is the most effective way of gaining support and weaving networks of solidarity in the face of authoritarianism.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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