14ymedio, Havana, 27 January 2021 [Readers please note, this article is from 2021 and only recently translated] — The day of arrests and protests of artists that took place this Wednesday in front of the Ministry of Culture has not taken long to receive condemnation from several international organizations, among which stands out the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH), based in Madrid, that has asked the European Union and the United States for sanctions against Alpidio Alonso, Minister of Culture, who attacked the protesters yesterday.
The police violently broke up the sit-in held by several artists who managed to reach the Ministry after paying tribute to José Martí on the eve of the 168th anniversary of his birth. Alonso approached the group and physically attacked the independent journalist Mauricio Mendoza, which led to an exchange of slaps between officials and artists, who were quickly surrounded and stripped of their cell phones.
The OCDH condemned the “repressive action” and denounced that “then, the government mob, made up of officials from the Ministry of Culture, attacked the rest of the protesters in the vicinity of the Ministry in Havana.”
The organization has proposed that the European Union “urgently” prohibit the entry of Alonso Grau and Vice Minister Fernando Rojas to the Schengen area and that both be “sanctioned”
The organization has proposed that the European Union “urgently” prohibit the entry of Alonso Grau and Vice Minister Fernando Rojas to the Schengen area and that both be “sanctioned” according to the newEuropean regime on human rights, in addition to their exclusion in any bilateral dialogue. In addition, it also demanded sanctions from the United States for both of them for their “direct participation in violent acts that violate the human rights of intellectuals and artists in Cuba.”
“In a normal country, Mr. Alonso Grau should have resigned. The images of the minister physically attacking people who are demonstrating peacefully in a public space is another example of the intolerance of the officials of the Cuban regime,” says Alejandro González Raga. , director of the OCDH.
The event at the door of the ministry resulted in several arrests. “They took them all away on a bus. They didn’t let me pass, they detained me almost upon arrival, there was a police cordon on every corner,” playwright Yunior García Aguilera told 14ymedio. The artists Solveig Font and Julio Llopiz-Casal tried to intervene so that García could gain access to the Ministry, but was unable to do so. “In the end a bus arrived, they did a kind of act of repudiation and took them all away,” he added.
Fernando Rojas even told those who participated in the protest, as heard in some videos recorded by themselves, that they could go to the institution’s headquarters, but the young people demanded the withdrawal of the police officers who were surrounding them before entering.
“There are police officers and people with guns, who come to strike and you know it, we are just artists,” Maykel Castillo Osorbo is heard saying. “Why such a level of repression with art,” claimed the rapper.
During the morning, the independent journalist Camila Acosta, the artists Tania Bruguera and Camila Lobón, and the writer Katherine Bisquet were arrested when they were preparing to attend the tribute and released hours later. The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) denounced these arrests, as well as the surveillance of the homes of journalists Iliana Hernández, a collaborator of CiberCuba, and Luz Escobar, of 14ymedio.
“We condemn the worsening of repression, threats and censorship against independent media and journalists, activists and citizens” by the Government
“We condemn the worsening of repression, threats and censorship against independent media and journalists, activists and citizens” by the Government, said Jorge Canahuati and Carlos Jornet, presidents of the IAPA and the Commission on Freedom of the Press and Information of the entity, respectively. Both added that the Government uses the Penal Code and archaic decrees to punish them and silence the right to freedom of expression and asked the international community to “immediately raise its voice and denounce the atrocities and violations of human rights on the Island.”
This January 27, several members of the 27N artist group had called for a tribute to José Martí near the Ministry of Culture. Some of them took advantage of the queue in a store to camouflage themselves and be able to be in the place without being previously detained.
Among them were Llopiz-Casal, Font, Osorbo, Mijail Rodríguez, Ulises Padrón, Víctor Alfonso, Mauricio Mendoza, Carolina Cabrera, Reynier Leyva Novo, Sinder Riverí, and Miryorli García. The group that managed to arrive in front of the Ministry paid tribute to Martí in a bust located on the corner of 21st and 2nd in Vedado, where a statement transmitted through social networks was read.
“We gather again to cultivate and offer our white rose,” they say in their address. “That of peace, that of dialogue, that of civic friendship, that of reconciliation, that of forgiveness, that of transparency, that of kindness, that of good and beauty, that of poetry. A white rose for friends and for those who consider themselves enemies, as Martí proposed to us, because we believe in the importance of building Cuba with everyone and for the good of all, from the values of our apostle and poet.
From there they went to the Ministry, where Fernando Rojas demanded that they leave the area, citing the danger of coronavirus infection.
“It is a lie that they want dialogue, to be in a situation and call the foreign press and put on a little media show. They do not want any dialogue, they were invited several times to come in and they did not want to come in. We are not going to allow this here in the Ministry of Culture. They do not respect the entire artistic movement of this country, which is revolutionary. If they come in a challenging and provocative tone like now, they will find an energetic response from our people,” Alonso said before a group of officials from his ministry who, at the end, applauded him and shouted slogans like “fuerza Cuba” and “viva Fidel.”
The Ministry of Culture also issued an official note where it described the artists’ action as a provocation and referred to them as a “small group of people” related “to media paid by US federal agencies.” As the statement explains, those present were asked to leave on several occasions due to the “risk posed by the Covid-19 epidemic in crowds in public spaces.”
“The Ministry of Culture ratifies its willingness to dialogue with honest creators on any issue related to the cultural policy of the Cuban Revolution and reiterates its refusal to accept provocations or dialogue with mercenaries”
According to the official version, the Ministry of Culture workers “decided to react immediately” by urging them to leave, but “they confronted them and evicted them from the place” due to their refusal. “The Ministry of Culture ratifies its willingness to dialogue with honest creators on any issue related to the cultural policy of the Cuban Revolution and reiterates its refusal to accept provocations or dialogue with mercenaries,” the note concludes.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel has expressed himself along the same lines. “He who hides behind art to provoke by besieging institutions and public officials, while the nation fights tooth and nail against blockade, pandemic and death, is not honest. Our ministries are not media platforms. Hard work is done there,” the president wrote on Twitter .
The repressive actions against activists and artists come just two months after more than three hundred people gathered outside the Ministry of Culture on November 27 to demand the end of censorship and greater creative freedoms on the Island starting the arrests against members of the San Isidro Movement. After several hours of tension, caused by a significant deployment of police and State Security agents to stop the arrival of more artists, the authorities accepted that a group of representatives access the building.
During the call this Wednesday, the members of 27N released a statement. “Today we come, once again, to insist on dialogue, but also to demand to be heard, to exercise our freedom as citizens, and to celebrate the unity, serenity and perseverance that we have maintained around the events of 27 November 2020,” adds the statement. “We will not give up the demands of that night.”
The declaration goes on to demand the “right to have rights,” the recognition of civil society as an interlocutor and an end to harassment, repression and censorship. The official press, which has pointed to them and accused them of being counterrevolutionaries and mercenaries, could stop the defamation campaigns against them and put a “stop to hate speech.”
The group demands a channel of dialogue that leaves ideologies aside and focuses on Cuba and the well-being of its citizens and defends its commitment to a free, inclusive and democratic society. “We invite all Cubans not to be indifferent to suffering and pain, to not be apathetic to the reality that is offered to us as an opportunity for change.”
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