Black Spring 2.0: Cuban regime hardens to quell discontent

CARACAS – Cuban government unleashed a repressive operation against dissidents, artists and independent journalists reminiscent of the historic Black Spring orchestrated by Fidel Castro in 2003. Then there were 75 prisoners of conscience condemned by the Castro revolution; today about thirty elected by the repressive organs of the State set an example for a country that breathes certain airs of freedom thanks to the extension of the Internet on the island.

The artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, symbol of the struggle for freedom since last year, He was forcibly locked up for four weeks in Calixto García hospital, where he was transferred to prevent him from continuing his hunger strike. State television showed up to three recordings of the prisoner, in an unsuccessful attempt to show normalcy. The 33-year-old was not even allowed to attend his grandmother’s funeral, It has even been suggested on television that he spent his time “fucking” with a nurse. Amnesty International (AI) declared him a prisoner of conscience.

“Following the popularity of the song ‘Homeland and life’ The seat of government over Otero Alcántara and Maykel Osorbo has basically increased. They succeeded police fences, arbitrary detentions, women abused and beaten by police and officials, surveillance cameras set up by government companies in front of activists’ homes, in addition to the cancellation of phone lines and internet signal, preventing communication and denunciation of the atrocities of the dictatorship ”, denounced this week in a manifesto more than 200 artists and intellectuals, including those who participated in the musical theme that contradicts the slogan of Castro of“ Patria o Muerte ”and who has already added more than 5.3 million views on YouTube.

The two artists who live on the island and who have dared to be part of the team are already incarcerated in a hospital and a prison, and against the third, El Funky, they have ordered house arrest.

They are not the only ones. The crackdown also affected six people who demonstrated to demand Otero’s freedom in Havana’s central Obispo street., including freelance journalist Mary Karla Ares, who covered the event and returned home on Saturday on house arrest after being jailed for a month in El Guatao prison.

“The government has them imprisoned and prosecuted as a form of punishment for popular support and for political purposes to control the population,” warned the organization Prisoners Defenders. The European Parliament, the United Nations and various organizations have expressed their concern over the arbitrary actions of the Cuban government.

Among those imprisoned for two months is popular YouTuber Yoandi Montiel, El Gato de Cuba, one of the comedians who best portrayed daily life on the island through sarcasm. From prison, he sent a message to his thousands of followers, in which he assures that “Is still on” and did not negotiate with the dictatorship.

“What fear of tyranny, brave young people like Carolina Barrero!” Exclaims José Daniel Ferrer, head of the Patriotic Union of Cuba. This young art historian was arrested and mistreated by State Security for being too daring. His “crime” only fits in a very Orwellian catalog: the artist intervened on an image of José Martí, “apostle” of Cuban independence, wearing a starry shirt and paraphrasing one of his poems to include a question of its own (“I have two countries: Cuba and the night. Or are both one?”).

The recent Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (CPC) has already made it very clear to everyone: there will be no improvement in civil rights and freedoms. And those who dare to defy his orders will be punished in an exemplary manner. As the historian Armando Chaguaceda has already warned, on “the immobile island, there are already processes of collective mobilization, although modest; every week there are more protests, proposals and manifestos in the squares and social networks“.

For now, the threats have not silenced them, even the artists who are still on the run They went to the National Museum of Fine Arts so that their works would not be exhibited, present in the prestigious art gallery, until their companions are released.

The conclusion is obvious to almost everyone, from activists to diplomats in Havana: Cuba is suffering another cruel government blockade that mimics what was experienced in 2003, in an updated version 2.0.

“With more than 20 activists awaiting trial, it appears to be a version of Black Spring,” said certified economist Martha Beatriz Roque, the only woman in the Group of 75 convicted in the process 18 years ago.

“The wave of repression is very serious and comes with the worst economic crisis, perhaps worse than the special period of the 90s. Faced with such a situation, the government acts by repressing itself and defending itself by attacking, as it does. has always done, “said Alejandro González Raga, another member of the Group of 75 and currently executive director of the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH).

González Raga and various observers agree that President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Raúl Castro bet that President Joe Biden was their lifeline and that was not the case. “The situation is such that Government attempts to internationalize repression by threatening to sanction Cubans abroad who participate in protest activities. It is a clear manifestation of their desperation, ”González Raga told LA NACION.