14ymedio, Havana, 10 December 2021 — The Cuban civic platform Archipíelago published this Friday a “declaration of permanence” signed by its coordinators as a result of the resignation in recent days of several of its members.
“It’s hard to reinvent oneself every day in the middle of governmental hostility and anguish of a sick society; bring consensus to the diverse voices of those who have decided who inhabit this project, and maintain at all costs the plurality and democracy,” the collective wrote on their social networks. Archipíelago organized the Civic March for Change of November 15 (15N), which finally could not be carried out due to the repression of the Cuban Government .
The activists insist on pointing out that they remain committed to “fighting together to achieve a Cuba with rights for all people…No one said it would be easy or that we would achieve our goals in a short time; no one has promised paradise.”
In its call for unity, the platform claimed that the future of the Island “cannot be left in the hands of one group, once again, but that we will have to build it among all and for all, without exclusions or privileges,” therefore they make it clear that “freedom will not be achieved by an individual or a group, but by the participation of a citizenry aware that change is in their hands.”
When sharing the statement, the group included the opinion of several coordinators, such as the Holguin writer Zulema Gutiérrez, who called on the group to continue working: “To those who want to divide us, let’s not give them the pleasure. There are still prisoners, there is one bloody Cuba, hungry people, people who do not know that they have the right to have rights. We are going to lift ourselves.” In addition, she requested that “this be the last day of truce and internal pain because there is a lot of pain in all of Cuba, and we must continue.”
Miryorly García Prieto, editor and also member of the 27N group, called for unity among her colleagues and was hopeful: “I know that one day this Revolution of Affections will triumph, it will overcome the political mistakes that we make, because we will not be so good in politics, perhaps, but solidarity and truth accompany us, and that will be enough.”
“If before I had millions of reasons to risk everything for Cuba, now there are more,” said playwright Yunior García Aguilera, one of the most prominent promoters of the Archipiélago, today in Madrid, who made it clear that “whatever they say,” he is staying on the platform he calls his “Parliament of frank and diverse voices.”
“New dynamics are coming in this process of transformation and reconstruction,” said Yahíma Díaz, a psychologist by profession and resident of Pinar del Río, adding that the group tries “to re-signify our history with a whole host of thoughts, feelings and, above all, that hope that makes us feel alive.”
The Holguin doctor Manuel Guerra, another of the coordinators and who along with many of his colleagues has suffered harassment and repression by the regime after announcing the 15N march, pointed out that they have two options: “Intimidate us and hope for a miracle, or take the bull by the horns and not yield a millimeter until we achieve our objectives, until we see our majestic Archipiélago free, sovereign, prosperous and radiant.”
After García Aguilera left for Spain, several members of the platform announced that they were leaving the organization. Among the most recent are Saily González, who was one of the most prominent coordinators, and the dissident Magdiel Jorge Castro.
When announcing her decision, González pointed out that she was departing from the most important undertaking that she contributed to in her life, “the human group that has been and is the most fraternal to me,” and as justification she said that her world “walks at 48 frames per second and logic makes Archipíelago walk at 24.”
Also leaving the group were the lawyer Fernando Almeyda, activist Daniela Rojo and professor Leonardo Fernández Otaño, who confessed, like Almeyda, he did not share “a group of political actions carried out by Yunior García Aguilera since his departure from Cuba.”
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