Cuban exiles in at least a dozen countries gathered this Wednesday to demand the release of political prisoners and an end to repression on the island.
MIAMI, United States. – Cubans in exile and allies came out this December 10, International Human Rights Day, to protest in front of embassies and consulates of the regime in at least a dozen countries to demand the release of political prisoners and the end of repression on the island.
The calls, promoted by civil society organizations and exile platforms such as Cuba Decide, explicitly called for gathering “in front of embassies and consulates” at 7:00 pm local time in each country.
According to an initial balance of the independent newspaper 14ymedioactions were carried out in “at least 13 cities” in countries such as Spain, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Chile, France and the United States, including marches, walks, rallies and symbolic acts.
The day of this December 10 was preceded by a call from the opposition José Daniel Ferrerleader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), who asked to turn the date into “a global day of denunciation, civic resistance and demand for fundamental freedoms.”
In a message spread on social networks, Ferrer stated that the time has come to make it clear “to tyranny and to the entire planet” that the Cuban people “demand to live in freedom,” demanded “full respect for their rights as human beings” and assured that he aspired to a nation with “justice, market economy, rule of law and prosperity.”
The opponent proposed peaceful actions within Cuba – graffiti with the acronym “DH”, banging pots and lightning demonstrations – and asked the diaspora to organize rallies in the main cities where the Cuban community resides, as well as flood social networks with images of the protests.
In parallel, the Cuba Decide platform, headed by Rosa María Payá, joined the call.
Various posters and publications shared on social networks reiterated the instruction to meet “in front of embassies and consulates” of Cuba in each country. A widely used design It included as meeting points the Cuban embassy in Washington, the Versailles restaurant in Miami, the Cuban mission to the UN in New York and diplomatic representations in cities in America and Europe.
Cities and embassies: first reports
According to 14ymedioin Berlin a group of members of Cuban civil society was received by authorities of the German Government, “for the first time in history,” according to activist Tania Tasé from your Facebook profile The Taniads.
In Barcelona, Cuban emigrants They gathered in the streets to denounce the Cuban dictatorship and focus on the health and food crisis, political prisoners and the lack of rights on the Island, according to the videos released by the Coalition of Women x Cuba Libre.
In Madrid, the demonstration in front of the Cuban embassy also made visible the human rights situation in Cuba.
Before December 10, media and activists had already documented that the call included cities such as Miami, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Washington, Santiago de Chile, Berlin and Toronto, in addition to various European capitals. A public record compiled by activist Norges Rodríguez also included concentrations announced in Madrid, Paris, Valencia, Tenerife, Montreal, Toronto and Stockholm, among others.
A video broadcast on Instagram He called on “Cubans in Sweden and friends of freedom” to unite this December 10 to “raise our voices” for human rights in Cuba, in the context of the global protest. In Costa Rica, another call It circulated under the slogan “end of the dictatorship” and indicated the Cuban embassy in San José as the meeting point.
While the exile sought to turn the event into a day of denunciation, within the Island the regime responded with the usual scheme of control and repression. 14ymedio reported that Cuba experienced International Human Rights Day with “police operations, internet cuts and house arrests against activists and independent journalists,” including reporter Boris González Arenas, detained in his home, and members of the Ladies in White, subjected to police surveillance and sieges.
The Cuba
December 10, the date on which the approval of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 is commemorated, has become a particularly sensitive day in Cuba due to the Government’s tendency to prevent any peaceful demonstration.
For the opposition and exile, December 10 has an additional symbolic load: in 1948, the Cuban delegation played a relevant role in the approval of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the UN, with figures such as jurist Ernesto Dihigo and ambassador Guy Pérez de Cisneros leading the diplomatic efforts. Today, the reality of the country contrasts with that legacy and places the Government of Havana among the most questioned in the region in terms of civil and political liberties.
