Members of Cuba’s San Isidro Movement Arrested After Delivering Complaint of Police Mistreatment

14ymedio, Havana, 17 June 2020 — Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara has been released after spending the entire day on Wednesday being held in the Villa Marista detention center. The artist had been arrested in the morning, when he went to file a complaint about the police mistreatment that he and rapper Maykel Castillo suffered last … Continue reading “Members of Cuba’s San Isidro Movement Arrested After Delivering Complaint of Police Mistreatment”

Cintas Foundation Award for Cuban Artist Sandra Ceballos

14ymedio, Havana, 14 November 2022 — The Cintas Foundation has awarded their annual scholarship of 20,000 dollars to three Cubans: Sandra Ceballos, visual artist, Armando Lucas Correa, writer, and Rodrigo Castro, composer. The only one of these three to currently reside in Cuba is Ceballos, who, aged 61, is one of the most recognised of … Continue reading “Cintas Foundation Award for Cuban Artist Sandra Ceballos”

Damas Street in San Isidro Street, a Year After the Violent Eviction of Otero Alcantara

14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 26 November 2021 — A padlock permanently closes the two wooden panels of the 955 Damas Street door in Old Havana, which in the past was almost always open. According to many in the neighborhood, at the home of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and headquarters of the San Isidro Movement (MSI), … Continue reading “Damas Street in San Isidro Street, a Year After the Violent Eviction of Otero Alcantara”

Saily Gonzalez Walks through Santa Clara Dressed in White with a Flower for Antonio Maceo

14ymedio, Havana, November 19, 2021 — Saily Gonzalez had already made the announcement on Monday, November 15, when an angry, violent mob prevented her from leaving her home. Her protests were limited to applauding at three in the afternoon and hanging her white sheets from a window. She was unable to do what she wanted … Continue reading “Saily Gonzalez Walks through Santa Clara Dressed in White with a Flower for Antonio Maceo”

Cuban Organizers of the Peaceful Marches on November 20th (20N) Expect 8,000 People in Holguin and Santa Clara

14ymedio, Havana, 23September 2021 —  This Thursday in Villa Clara, about twenty citizens joined the Archipelago collective in its call to peacefully demonstrate on 20N. In addition, the thirty signatories joined the initiative this Wednesday in Holguín. As playwright Yunior García did in Havana, citizens from Villa Clara and Holguín submitted a document notifying local … Continue reading “Cuban Organizers of the Peaceful Marches on November 20th (20N) Expect 8,000 People in Holguin and Santa Clara”

State Workers Called to Participate in ‘Operation San Isidro’

14ymedio, Havana, April 29, 2021 — Workers at state-owned restaurants and bars in Old Havana, most of whom are at home due to the pandemic and the drop-off in tourism, were summoned to join surveillance and “confrontation with the counterrevolution” operations in the San Isidro neighborhood. There, at 955 Damas Street on Thursday, the artist Luis … Continue reading “State Workers Called to Participate in ‘Operation San Isidro’”

Spontaneity in San Isidro, Imposition in Trillo Park

14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 5 April 2021 — They are separated by four months and an abyss. Some arrived at Trillo Park in November summoned by the Cuban government; the others danced this April in the San Isidro neighborhood to the rhythm of songs forbidden in the national media. Some could not even name the streets that border the … Continue reading “Spontaneity in San Isidro, Imposition in Trillo Park”

The Perfect Storm: San Isidro and Currency Unification

14ymedio, Jorge Hernández Fonseca, Havana, 27 December 2020 — The abolition of the Cuba’s dual currency system is, as we all know, essential to the development of a healthy economy on island. It is a reform the Communist nomenklatura has said it will adopt but which it is reluctant to undertake for fear of losing the … Continue reading “The Perfect Storm: San Isidro and Currency Unification”

The Singularity of San Isidro

14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 26 November 2020 — The arrest of a rapper has led to a hunger strike being waged by several activists, members of a group known as the San Isidro Movement. What began as a meeting of friends showing solidarity and demanding the release of Denis Solís has led to an … Continue reading “The Singularity of San Isidro”

Tenth of October: The Cry of San Isidro

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 11 October 2020 —  On October 10, a group of young Cuban activists and artists who identify as the San Isidro Movement attempted a civic action that included a concert and the presentation of posters that alluded to the need for changes in Cuba. Starting the day before, the political police made … Continue reading “Tenth of October: The Cry of San Isidro”

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’”

Amnesty International Broadcasts a Message From Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara From Prison in Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 1 February 2024 — “Nothing takes away my drive because since I was a child I fell in love with the eternal, so I will not leave my work, our work, unfinished.” This is how the message from Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara sent from prison begins, released this Wednesday by Amnesty … Continue reading “Amnesty International Broadcasts a Message From Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara From Prison in Cuba”

Cuba’s Minister of Culture’s Aggression Against Artists Sparks International Condemnation (Article from 2021)

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 … Continue reading “Cuba’s Minister of Culture’s Aggression Against Artists Sparks International Condemnation (Article from 2021)”

Cuba Receives an Avalanche of Negative Reports Before Its Human Rights Review at the UN

14ymedio, Havana, 14 November 2023 — It has been more than five years since Cuba last underwent the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) carried out by the UN in Geneva, and the deterioration of the situation within that period – in which Cuba has been twice elected a member of the Human Rights Council – is … Continue reading “Cuba Receives an Avalanche of Negative Reports Before Its Human Rights Review at the UN”

Celia Cruz, Joined With ‘Patria Y Vida’, the Anthem of the Protests in Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 3 October 2023 — Since this Monday, Celia Cruz and Patria y Vida (Homeland and Life), two of the greatest Cuban musical symbols of recent times, are united in a new video clip of the song that became a dissident anthem since its premiere, in February 2021. In this new version, the song incorporates … Continue reading “Celia Cruz, Joined With ‘Patria Y Vida’, the Anthem of the Protests in Cuba”