Ten Proposals for Change in Cuba

14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo/Elizardo Sanchez SantaCruz, 1 January 2020 — After almost forty years of organized civic struggle of the dissident movement in Cuba, the survivors of the half dozen political prisoners who began that struggle in 1983 call for a dispassionate reflection on the general situation of the country and the opportunities of the present … Continue reading “Ten Proposals for Change in Cuba”

In 2020 the Cuban Regime Suffered its First Defeats

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 31 December 2020 — What happened in Cuba throughout this year can be related in a fragmentary way through a chronology, but the most important did not begin in January 2020, but on Wednesday, September 11, 2019, when the President of the Republic, to calm the citizenry, advised that on the … Continue reading “In 2020 the Cuban Regime Suffered its First Defeats”

Luis Robles, the Young Man Who Peacefully Protested With a Poster In Havana Vieja Who is Under Arrest / Cubalex

Cubalex, 16 December 2020  — On December 5th, Luis Robles Eliazastegui demonstrated in Blvd. San Rafael in central Havana. Various people videoed his protest and also the moment in which police officers arrested him without any opposition or resistance on his part. According to information we have received he has been held at the State … Continue reading “Luis Robles, the Young Man Who Peacefully Protested With a Poster In Havana Vieja Who is Under Arrest / Cubalex”

Cuban Professor Harassed by Political Police Manages to Make His Walk ‘For Freedom’

14ymedio, Havana, 26 December 2020 — Physics professor Pedro Albert Sánchez was able to make his peaceful walk this Thursday “in honor of freedom” from the sculpture dedicated to the Knight of Paris, in Old Havana, to the El Quijote park in El Vedado, after the last Sunday when he was detained for 24 hours … Continue reading “Cuban Professor Harassed by Political Police Manages to Make His Walk ‘For Freedom’”

14ymedio’s Faces of 2020: The Independent Artists of Cuba’s San Isidro Movement

14ymedio, Havana, 24 December 2020 – The San Isidro Movement, born just two years ago, has shaken the political situation in Cuba in the last weeks of 2020 by crossing borders and putting the regime in a bind of incalculable dimensions. At the end of 2018, a group of independent artists who rejected Decree 349 … Continue reading “14ymedio’s Faces of 2020: The Independent Artists of Cuba’s San Isidro Movement”

Young Man with Sign Accused of Acts against State Security

14ymedio, Havana, 18 December 2020 — The young man who was arrested on December 4 for protesting with a handmade sign on San Rafael Boulevard in Havana has been charged with “acts against state security.” According to Diario de Cuba the charge was filed by First-Lieutenant Roberto Batista, who issued an order for “temporary detention.” … Continue reading “Young Man with Sign Accused of Acts against State Security”

Cuban Police Committed to Supporting Acts of Repudiation Against Artists

14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 15 December 2020 — State Security continues its harassment against activists and artists who were housed at the headquarters of the San Isidro Movement. One day after Carlos Manuel Álvarez was arrested when he left his family’s house in Cárdenas, Matanzas, and was interrogated for six hours, Katherine Bisquet denounced the organization … Continue reading “Cuban Police Committed to Supporting Acts of Repudiation Against Artists”

‘I Can Destroy Your Life With One Stroke of the Pen,’ the Cuban State Security Official Told Me

14ymedio, Clive Rudd Fernández, Miami, 10 December 2020 — I just got back to Florida after a five-day trip to Cuba. It had been about five years since I went, but a series of factors came together that led me to opt for Havana, and not the Bahamas or Cancun. The most important of all … Continue reading “‘I Can Destroy Your Life With One Stroke of the Pen,’ the Cuban State Security Official Told Me”

“You Should Be the Ones Talking to Us, Not State Security”

14ymedio, Havana, 3 December 2020 — The following document is the result of comparing the notes taken by various people who were present and what was remembered by the participants. Published on the Facebook Page 27N (for ‘November 27’) , it is reproduced with their permission. They point out that “there were more statements in … Continue reading ““You Should Be the Ones Talking to Us, Not State Security””

Human Rights Group Warns Cuban Government Is Setting the Stage for Civil War to Hold onto Power

14ymedio, Havana, December 4, 2020 — The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) claims that Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel are “setting the stage for civil war in order to hold onto power at any cost instead of adopting the reforms that Cuba urgently needs.” In a statement issued on Thursday, the Madrid-based organization condemned … Continue reading “Human Rights Group Warns Cuban Government Is Setting the Stage for Civil War to Hold onto Power”

Organizations Speak Out Concerning the Wave of Repression in Cuba / Artículo 19 and Cubalex

Artículo 19 and Cubalex — Article 19 strongly condemns the wave of arbitrary arrests that have been taking place since Thursday, November 12, against independent journalists, human rights activists and political opponents in Cuba. These events have been accompanied by interrogations, threats, seizures of work equipment, beatings, among other assaults. The aggressors have been agents … Continue reading “Organizations Speak Out Concerning the Wave of Repression in Cuba / Artículo 19 and Cubalex”

Cuban Authorities Broke the Agreements with Artists, Denounces Tania Bruguera

14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 30 November 2020 — Three of the five agreements reached on November 27 between independent artists and cultural authorities — beginning with the release of the young rapper Denis Solís, sentenced to eight months in jail for alleged contempt — did not last 24 hours, Tania Bruguera denounced in a press conference called … Continue reading “Cuban Authorities Broke the Agreements with Artists, Denounces Tania Bruguera”

And the Spark Ignited…

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 28 November 2020 – Sometimes in the dark, or with only the beams of mobile phones lighting their faces, hundreds of artists have planted themselves in front of the Ministry of Culture in Havana, until the early morning hours this Saturday. The peaceful protest marks a necessary precedent with unpredictable consequences … Continue reading “And the Spark Ignited…”

Carlos Varela: “Cutting the Wings of Freedom of Expression Cannot Continue”

14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 26 November 2020 — One week after the start of the hunger strike at the headquarters of the San Isidro Movement to demand freedom for Denis Solís, sentenced to eight months in a summary trial for an alleged crime of contempt, signs of solidarity continue to arrive via the activists of … Continue reading “Carlos Varela: “Cutting the Wings of Freedom of Expression Cannot Continue””

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”