Send an Open Letter to the Minister of Culture to "Discriminate Christians" in Cuba



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Cuban lawyer Miguel Porres wrote an open letter addressed to the Minister of Culture, Abel Prieto to protest what he describes as "discrimination in cultural policy and radio and television", given the low presence of Christians in the media. He asks that a space be recognized for Christians and that they have "equal opportunities" like other religions.

Since he sent the same letter three times without receiving an answer, he chose to file a complaint with the Ministry of Culture (MINCULT) and the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT ).

Graduate in Law from the University of Havana (1997) and holder of a Master's degree in Corporate Law from the University of Barcelona (2005), Miguel was taken in charge He was Judge of the Municipal People's Court of Cienfuegos at the end of the 1980s.

Porres, who usually attends a Baptist church in Guanabo-, stresses that his petition is upheld on a strictly constitutional basis, and Carta Magna of Cuba, which protects equal rights, proscribes discrimination based on religious beliefs and considers it to be detrimental to dignity To this it should be added that Article 195 of the Penal Code considers discrimination based on religious beliefs as a crime.

"We feel discriminated against by cultural policy and radio and television, and in spite of the great variety and high quality of the authors and the Christian music, it is almost never divulged by the media, it is only in very marked events or visits of personalities in our country that we hear something of this music or events and events where God and Christ are spoken ", he wrote

. " We do not represent a fundamentalist idea. Christ's values, we fight against abuse, immorality, corruption, crime. Why, then, can we not rely on space in the cultural policy of a society which, in all its statutes and laws, claims to defend values ​​and principles very similar to those of Christianity?

sent by Miguel Porres to Abel Prieto

Minister of Culture, Abel Prieto:

I am surprised at the indifference with which your team addressed my claiming discrimination against Christians, which is why I wrote several times without commenting.

In the absence of the right that I have been granted by the constitution, they leave me no choice but to go to an administrative process . I interpose against:

-The Ministry of Culture (Mincult).

-The Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (Icrt).

] It does not exist in our legal system I am in a constitutional hall. Therefore, depending on the origin of the case, courts adjudicate and decide on aspects where the rights granted to persons in the constitution are violated.

In Articles 41 to 43 the Great Cuban Charter It explicitly protects the equal rights and opportunities, proscribes discrimination based on religious beliefs and considers them to be harmful to human dignity . The Criminal Code, in its article 195, considers it a crime

In Cuba, a significant part of the population, which grows daily, is Christian. This is part of the history of the culture of this country and the generations that gave birth to our nationality.

Because we believe in God and Jesus Christ is considered religious, we defend freedom. and we feel free, we seek the formation of worthy beings, without ties to vices, where human beings have more value than material wealth. We are inspired by a Christ who sacrificed for us, who rejected violence and greed, who preached love for his neighbor. We are also studying the scientific and theoretical foundations that demonstrate the existence of God, and the evidence that has been given in history and that is touched in the scriptures.

We feel discriminated against by cultural policy and radio and television. Despite the wide variety and excellent quality of the authors and Christian music, it is almost never disclosed by the media. Only in very marked events or visits of personalities to our country is heard something of this music where events and events are reported where God and Christ are spoken. I know of cases in which permits were requested to use a facility and the petitioner was warned that the condition was that Christ's name was not mentioned at any time, this limitation was imposed by the person in charge.

Alarmed by this situation, I wrote several times electronically to the Minister of Culture (since Mincult is the maximum institution of Cuban culture and who has the power to legislate and implement the country's cultural policy), and seeing that he is not answering to get a letter personally to his office, like the president of the Icrt, to request a decision on these facts.

Despite the right to complain and receive a response granted by the Constitution, I received silence from the officials. I had hoped for a statement that we would not be ignored. I have used the resources that the law gives me, aware that the problems of Cuba, we must solve them among the Cubans. My mood has been strengthened because I understand that the Minister of Culture is a citizen cultured, a lover of dialogue and diversity, an intellectual without fear of debate. However, the treatment received to my filing requests is frustrating.

It is important for Christians that we be considered in this space, because art is a form of power. It has been possible to dominate the subversive action of those who are against the revolutionary process, but the government has been unable to prevent the growth and development of a culture of vulgarity, rudeness

Popular music towards rivalry, consumption, obscenity, denigration of women, the apology of money, undermine a considerable part of society. Imagine that the termite invades our domestic carpentry and that, when we notice it, we can do nothing to save it; it is thus that these tendencies distort the values ​​and principles that our society aspires to.

A farmer who produces the earth with his hard struggle and waits patiently for his harvest, at the mercy of bad weather and bad weather. who prefer to fly that up to the field, come sell their products at tourist facilities that they do not have the legal ability to pay in currency, but a musical band, which often does not leave the desired message for the education we aspire to and planting Christians, we are equal Cubans, patriots, we do not seek to overthrow the political system, nor to pretend to be part of the power elite, but yes, we claim our rights to live in an egalitarian society, with equal opportunities for all, to be heard and to be taken into account.

We do not represent A fundamentalist idea, we defend the values ​​of Christ, we fight against the abuses, the immorality, the corruption, the crime. Why, then, we can not rely on space in the cultural policy of a society which, in all its statutes and laws, claims to defend values ​​and principles very similar to those of Christianity.

Wisdom to those who run this country so that they can make the best decisions for the good of the people, so that they resist the temptation and power not to scramble view.

Attorney Miguel Porres
Havana, 2018

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