MIAMI, United States. – The art historian Carolina Barrero, participant in the panel “Peaceful demonstrations in Latin America: Reflections on Cuba one year after 11J”, assured this Tuesday from Los Angeles that July 11, 2021 still resonated in “all of Latin America ”.
“The spontaneous and massive way in which towns – and not only the most important cities in the country – is relevant for the entire region,” Barrero assured.
“So many times we Cubans longed for it to happen [un levantamiento como el del 11J]and there it was, it appeared without anyone being able to anticipate it the night before,” he added.
For his part, the former political prisoner, lawyer and journalist from CubaNet Roberto de Jesús Quiñones referred to the right of Cubans to demonstrate, which, he said, in Cuba only has a “formal character.”
“The events of 11J constitute a watershed, but also an event that has no parallel in the history of Cuba. What happened that day shows that there is no rule of law in Cuba, but that, in reality, what exists is a state hijacked by a very small political class”, he lamented.
Likewise, Quiñones also considered that “the spontaneous and peaceful demonstrations of 11J were a very unequivocal sign of the Cubans’ desire for change.”
For her part, art curator Claudia Genlui, another of the Cuban participants in the panel, referred to the work of independent artists on the island “as activators of civil society” and their ability to “connect the world of art with the neighborhood”.
Activist Salomé García Bacallao, from the Justice 11J group, also participated in the event, who addressed the issue of political prisoners on the island.
“The Cuban regime has historically treated its political prisoners as hostages that it uses in exchange for concessions from democratic governments,” he said. “I want to ask democratic governments not to continue participating in this macabre game. We call on the international community to demand the publication of the number of people who have been detained as a result of the protests”, he requested.
Likewise, García Bacallao advocated that the Havana regime allow the entry to the island of international organizations that can inspect the state of detention centers throughout the country.
At the event, held in parallel to the IX Summit of the AmericasAlso present were the special rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for Freedom of Expression, Pedro Vaca; and the member of the Committee against Forced Disappearance of the United Nations Juan Pablo Albán.
The panel “Peaceful demonstrations in Latin America: Reflections on Cuba one year after 11J” was convened by the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights.
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