HAVANA- Three years after the historic protests of July 11, 2021 in Cuba, the island’s regime continues to “harass” and “repress” dissenting voices, activists and opponents denounced on Thursday.
In Cuba, “the State violently represses citizens to prevent them from exercising rights that are even enshrined in the Constitution,” such as freedom of expression, freedom of movement, freedom of association,” said prestigious academic Alina Bárbara López, 58, currently “under house arrest,” on YouTube.
In his complaint, López insisted that “Cuban prisons are now full of political prisoners (…) who are not even recognized as such.”
Nearly 200 people, most of them intellectuals and artists, including Argentine singer-songwriter Fito Páez and Cuban novelist Leonardo Padura, recently signed a declaration denouncing the “repression” unleashed against this intellectual on June 18 when she was heading to Havana to participate in a public protest.
On July 11 and 12, 2021, thousands of people took to the streets of the country shouting “Freedom” and “We are hungry,” in the largest demonstrations recorded against the Castro regime.
According to official figures from Havana, some 500 participants were sentenced to up to 25 years in prison, although human rights organisations believe the number is higher.
According to estimates by the Mexico-based group Justicia11J, 607 people remain in prison.
“Harassment and bullying”
Although the streets of the country woke up calm on Thursday, the Miami-based human rights organization Cubalex reported on social media that this week activists and dissidents have been subjected to “harassment and threats” by “State Security.”
“On the eve of 11J, we woke up today with our internet access cut off,” complained independent journalist Yoani Sánchez on X. “The Cuban regime is still determined to silence the voice of its citizens,” she noted.
For his part, José Luis Tan Estrada, also an independent journalist, said on Facebook that the police temporarily arrested him on Friday.
“The main objective was to threaten me and warn me that on July 11 I could not be in public places, parks, or make any publications or actions to incite people,” he explained.
In a statement published on the State Department’s website on Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Miguel Díaz-Canel regime to “immediately and unconditionally” release “all political prisoners held in Cuba.”
The European Union and the Catholic Church have also repeatedly called for the prisoners’ release.
The Cuban regime denies the existence of political prisoners and accuses opponents of being “mercenaries” of the United States.
Source: With information from AFP