More than 300 international figures claim the Government of Cuba that the repression against artists ceases

Personalities of culture and human rights organizations have joined in a common cry for the freedom of Cuban artists imprisoned by the Havana regime. "The le

More than 300 international figures claim the Government of Cuba that the repression against artists ceases

Personalities of culture and human rights organizations have joined in a common cry for the freedom of Cuban artists imprisoned by the Havana regime. "The level of injustice and repression that the Cuban government is imposing its own people is getting worse," said Tania Bruguera, Cuban artist who has headed the boycott at the Biennial of Havana.

Mario Vargas Llosa, Paul Auster, Meryl Streep, Gioconda Belli, Orhan Pamuk, Elena Poniatowska, Isabel Allende, Héctor Abad Faciolince and J. M. Coetzee, among others, demand the immediate cessation of abuses against the island's artists. Two of them, as emblematic as the rapper rebellious Maykel Osorbo, one of the creators of the Libertarian Format and Life, and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, leader of the San Isidro movement (MSI), are imprisoned in severe conditions for raising his voice against the Castrobus

At least half a hundred artists have been in prison, house arrest or under investigation in recent months.

These international artists have signed a statement together with Pen International, Artists at Risk Connection of Pen América and Human Rights Watch (HRW), in which they also demand respect for freedom of expression, the release of those who are arbitrarily detained , the cancellation of abusive criminal charges and free via so that exiles can return to the country.

"The intolerance of the Cuban regime to criticism is so extreme that it has dared to imprison, persecute and force exile tens of singers, visual artists and dramatists. With this pronouncement, more than 300 artists from all over the world make it clear to the Diaz Canel regime that these systematic violations of human rights are unjustifiable and should cease immediately, "he summed up for the world Juan Pappier, HRW researcher.

Among the signatories are the Cuban Visual Artist Hamlet Lavastida and the Katherine Bisquet poet, banished to Europe a few weeks ago. Lavastide remained three months between bars, simply because it is one of the most recognized faces on the outside of Cuban young art with political denunciation.

The dramatist Yunior García Aguilera, director of clover theater and promoter of the citizen Action Group Archipiélago, escaped Spain with the approval of the authorities after the reprisals and threats suffered by the call for a peaceful march on November 15. Along with Lavastida and Bisquet, he also signs the document.

At present, the Government of Miguel Díaz-Canel maintains behind bars at 712 prisoners, according to the investigations carried out by the Prisoners Defenders organization. Of these, 562 were arrested after the social outbreak of July 11.

"The government not only exercises a constant censorship towards the artists, but in its actions to prevent and criminalize peaceful protest and dissent has turned the people of Cuba into the enemy of the State," Bruguera denounced.

Intellectuals, artists, writers and activists have turned the dissidence on the island in just two years. Gathered around the MSI, an archipelago and the 27-N movement (when hundreds of them were planted before the Ministry of Culture in Havana to demand dialogue and changes), they have achieved thanks to their actions and the use of cyberactivism than their It is listened inside and off the island.

"We, artists from all over the world, we solidated with our colleagues in Cuba. It is not surprising that some want to silence when we bear witness to the voices of those who, otherwise, they would not be heard. They are afraid of the truth because, Once revealed, you can no longer hide or contain, "the Mexican Poniatowska summed up.

Other signatories of the statement are Rosa Montero, Isabel Coixet, Wendy Guerra, Alec Baldwin, Zadie Smith, Jules Feiffer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Bianca Jagger, Enrique Krauze and Arturo Ripstein.

Date Of Update: 08 December 2021, 12:00