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Less than three weeks since the start of unprecedented anti-government protests, trials are already underway. Unsurprisingly, these procedures result in swift convictions.
“He was arrested immediately,” his mother Raisa Gonzalez told CNN. “He didn’t even get a chance to take a picture.
The following week, Troya was tried along with a dozen other protesters and convicted of inciting unrest. During his conviction, where he was sentenced to one year in prison, Troya’s mother said he asked to address the judges.
His mother said he told the court he had done nothing wrong, asking, “How is that fair when I haven’t even seen a lawyer and I’m innocent?” Raisa Gonzalez added: “Immediately one of the plainclothes policemen came and handcuffed him. I said, ‘My love, be calm, you are not alone.’ ”
Cuban officials declined to say how many people have been arrested in the wake of the island-wide protests, which came as the Cuban government struggles to cope with growing commodity shortages and the increase in coronavirus cases.
According to the Cubalex exile group that followed the arrests, as of July 26, nearly 700 Cubans had been detained since the protests began. Cuban officials said some of the arrested protesters were being released. Cubalex estimates the number of those released at 157.
The families of some protesters, who did not want to be identified, told CNN their relatives were arrested simply for being on the streets during the protests or simply for filming the protests. Many young people in Cuba had not seen protests of this magnitude in their lifetime.
Stung by critics that his crackdown on protesters shows a blatant disregard for basic civil liberties, Cuban officials said due process was followed and some protesters destroyed property and attacked police.
“It is not a crime to have different opinions, including political ones,” Rubén Remigio Ferro, president of the Supreme People’s Court of Cuba, told a press conference. “Think differently, question what’s going on. Demonstrating is not a crime, it is a constitutionally granted right … We are not troglodytes.”
But in practice, officials deal with any calls for a change in the Communist monopoly on power in Cuba – where opposition parties are banned – like an existential threat.
The rapid growth of mobile internet in Cuba has made it possible for Cubans to quickly organize and share footage of protests. In recent years, activists have tried to organize demonstrations to protest against artistic censorship; in favor of LGBTQ rights; and demanding a law prohibiting cruelty to animals. But Cuban police, plainclothes state security and “rapid intervention brigades” with batons quickly put an end to these rare demonstrations of defiance.
It wasn’t until thousands of people took to the streets in July that the Cuban security apparatus seemed briefly overwhelmed.
Cuban officials justified the crackdown on protesters by claiming that the protests were instigated by Cuba’s nemesis during the Cold War, the United States.
“When you try to make an organized movement from abroad and try to create the kind of situation that the US government will use as a justification for greater aggression against Cuba, that is naturally not allowed,” he said. Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, head of US affairs at the Cuban foreign ministry, CNN said. “It can endanger the national security of our country.”
Cuban artists, writers and musicians denounced the arrests and called for an amnesty for non-violent protesters. Faced with strong criticism, the government, in at least a few cases, appears to be backing down.
Following his conviction, Anyelo Troya was released under house arrest while he appealed. “I should be 100% free,” Troya wrote to CNN in a message.
Others may not be so lucky.
When protesters took to the streets on July 11 in the working-class neighborhood of La Güinera, they were joined by housewife Odet Hernandez Cruzata and her husband Reinier Reinosa Cabrera, who before the pandemic worked in nightclubs, according to their relatives in Cuba and abroad.
Odet broadcast the protests live on Facebook.
In its 22-minute video, the crowd can be heard shouting “motherland and life” and “a united people cannot be defeated! “
But as the crowd approaches what they say is a police station, people shout as shots are fired at them and take cover.
According to their relatives, Odet and Reinier demonstrated peacefully and returned home.
“They weren’t violent, they didn’t throw stones at anyone,” said Odet’s cousin Angelo Padron, who lives in France but has remained in close contact with relatives on the island. “They did not commit any violence. Then special troops came to look for them at their homes. A commando unit with many police officers.”
Padron said the couple are now under arrest and face serious charges, including assault, disorderly conduct, damage to public property and instigation. CNN has not been able to independently verify the charges.
Relatives are trying to find a lawyer for the couple while they care for Odet’s five-year-old daughter, Padron said. Neither has had previous arrests, he added.
While their family say the couple do not appear to pose a great threat, the Cuban government seems increasingly suspicious of the newly tech-savvy and provocative Cubans.
Perhaps because, so far, Odet’s video of the protest live on Facebook has received over 124,000 views.
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