by Center for a Free Cuba
International attention has justifiably focused on the plight of human rights defender Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, and the recent show trial he and three other dissidents were subjected to, but there are over 125 identified political prisoners, and Amnesty International recognized six new Cuban prisoners of conscience in August and September of 2019. Sadly, prisoners of conscience have existed over the six decades of the Castro regime. One of these new prisoners of conscience, Roberto de Jesús Quiñones Hace, an independent journalist and attorney smuggles a letter out of prison revealing that during an earthquake on January 28, 2020 prisoners were kept in their cells rather than taken out to an open space, that would have been safer under the circumstances. Human rights defenders, and independent journalists are not the only targets of repression in Cuba. Artists have also been cracked down on by officials of the dictatorship.
Decree 349, a 2018 law that criminalizes all independent cultural activity in Cuba, gives regime authorities total control over artistic production and ensures that individual artists can no longer be independent. This provoked protests by independent artists. Many were arbitrarily detained, and at least two were jailed for a prolonged period. Rapper Maikel Castillo Pérez in September of 2018 and Rapper Lazaro Rodriquez Betancourt “Pupito en Sy” in November 2018 were jailed for protesting this law. Pupito en Sy was released on August 23, 2019. Maikel Castillo was sentenced to 18 months in prison in April 2019 for protesting Decree 349, and was released on October 23, 2019. It appears that Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara will soon face a political show trial for his activities as a dissident.