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HAVANA (AP) – A group of Cuban artists and intellectuals said they won an unusual government wish for greater tolerance for independent art on Saturday after a protest outside the Culture Ministry.
About 20 artists had gathered on Friday and the crowd grew to 200 late at night, when Deputy Minister Fernando Rojas and the directors of several associations affiliated with the ruling Communist Party met with the protesters’ delegates until after midnight. .
Officials agreed to discuss “a multi-topic agenda with proposals from both sides,” writer Katherine Bisquet said. In addition, “We will be able to meet without being harassed in independent spaces. There is a truce for independent spaces.
The protest and official willingness to deal with the participants is unusual in a country whose government has historically tolerated open protests little, tends to label dissidents as tools of enemies abroad, and has arrested hundreds of them.
But those who showed up at Friday’s protest included people with a long history of working in the government-run cultural sector, including actor Jorge Perugurría, star of the film ‘Strawberry and Chocolate’, director Fernando Pérez. , playwright Yunior García and feminist activist Dianelys. Alfonso.
There were moments of tension on Saturday when police surrounded the square where the protest took place and electricity was cut for some time in the area, although it was not clear if this was linked to the manifestation.
“It is time to have a dialogue and I think it is important for you young people to be heard, and we will work for that,” said Perugurría before entering to meet with the authorities.
“What struck me the most was the diversity of people from cultural, political and social fields in Cuba who united … (on) a series of demands,” said Michael Bustamante, specialist in Latin American history in Florida. International university. He said the requests “are very general” and said “not everyone will agree on how to proceed”.
Even so, “in some ways it’s unprecedented in recent history” in Cuba, he said, noting that it comes at a complex time for the island, which is suffering from the pandemic, of an economic crisis and imminent economic reforms, as well as pending the policies that the next US administration will adopt towards Cuba.
The demonstration followed a raid Thursday evening on a house where a group of militant artists organized a sort of sit-in to demand the release of rapper Denis Solís, sentenced to prison for insulting a police officer.
Officials said they took action to enforce COVID-19 health restrictions because one of the people inside had recently returned from the United States and violated the required quarantine period. None of the people evacuated from the house were arrested.
Officials had previously described the house’s San Isidro group as lacking in true artistic merit.
But many well-known artists and performers had publicly urged the government to show tolerance and engage in dialogue with the group.
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