On the eve of 11J, the activist Yunior García reveals “the abusive face of the regime” in Cuba

The playwright and theater director Yunior García said from Spain that heas massive demonstrations of July 11, 2021 in Cuba, in addition to leaving a mark on the history of the nation, made it possible to see the nature of the Cuban government.

“It also showed how abusive the regime can be,” he said in an interview with the voice of america from Spain, where he has been exiled since last November. “In other words, he showed that the only thing that matters to the regime is power, to maintain power at all costs, whatever it takes, as long as it maintains its privilege.”

On July 11, 2021, thousands of Cubans went out to protest in the streets of more than sixty locations throughout the island, dissatisfied with the harsh economic situation, the rigors of confinement due to the pandemic, and asking for their fundamental freedoms.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel ordered to contain the protesters and in a television intervention declared: “The combat order is given.”

To date, human rights organizations inside and outside the country have reported that more than a thousand participants in the protests were arrested or taken to prison. The government informed in May that it had criminally prosecuted 380 people for crimes of sedition, sabotage, robbery with force, violence and others.

“That day was also a day of injustice, not only because of the number of detainees, but because of the deceased, because of the number of young people in jail, because of minors,” Garcia explained to the VOAalso activist drama for human rights.

a fatality

García is referring to Diubis Laurencio Tejeda, 36 years old, who died from a gunshot by a policeman in the popular council of Güinera, municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, Havana, on the day of the protests.

The young artist relates that in addition to recognizing the courage of the Cuban people in rising up in the streets almost a year ago, he cannot forget how supporters of the Havana government joined the persecution of those who demanded change.

“That day brought out the best in Cubans, but it also brought out the worst, it brought out above all the worst face of the regime, there is much talk about the violence of the protesters, but those who participated in the demonstrations know that those who started the violence were precisely the figureheads of the regime, the henchmen of the regime, they were taken away with stones and sticks,” he assured the VOA.

Yunior García led the Archipiélago platform from Havana, from which he brought together artists, human rights activists and Cubans in disagreement with the government.

His activism spawned the 15N Movement, as it was known. the scheduled march for November 15, 2021, but the police forces prevented him from doing it and two days later he landed with his wife in Madrid on a commercial flight, pushed to leave Cuba.

According to accredited media on the island, to date 16 young people between 16 and 18 years of age have been sentenced after July 11.

One of the most renowned anti-establishment artists on the island, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who led the San Isidro Movement and took part in the march that day was sentenced to 5 years in prison on June 24 under the crimes of “outrage against the symbols of the country.”

Along with Alcántara, the rapper Maykel Castillo was sentenced to 9 years in prisonThe Osorb‘, accused of “disrespect”, “attack” and others. The protesting musician was latin grammy award winner for his participation in the song “Patria y vida”, recognized as the anthem of the July 11 protests.

Demonstrations of support and remembrance are expected to take place in several cities around the world for the date of the largest protests that have occurred in Cuba since 1959.

“We all have the same slogan, to unfurl the Cuban flag and put it at half-staff when we can, it is in homage to that struggle,” Orlando Gutiérrez, head of the Cuban Democratic Directorate, said from Miami.

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