“We arrived in Spain, alive, healthy and with intact ideas.” This is how the Cuban playwright Yunior García Aguilera reported in his first communication since he landed in Madrid this Wednesday, at approximately 2:00 p.m. local time (8:00 Cuban time) on an Iberia flight, together with his wife, Dayana Prieto. In a post posted on Facebook, the activist, one of the leaders of the Archipelago platform and the main promoter of 15N, thanks “many people who have made this trip possible.”
“I have been without communication for several days and I need to update myself on the situation of other members of the Archipelago,” explains García, about whom nothing was known since Sunday, when the security forces prevented him from carrying out his plan to march through the streets of Havana. The playwright also announces that “very soon” he will tell his “odyssey”.
Archipelago learned of the news of García Aguilera’s departure from the Europa Press agency, which gave the scoop, and reported that it would offer a statement as soon as it had “some first-hand information.”
The Archipelago platform learned the news from the Europa Press agency, which gave the scoop, and reported that it would offer a statement “as soon as it has some first-hand information”
According The country, Diplomatic sources declared that “for days they have been making discreet arrangements for García’s trip, that he had a valid long-term visa to enter Spain” and that the departure from the country is “at his own request”, which does not mean a confirmation since the playwright has not given explanations about it.
The same newspaper, based on “sources close to García”, says that the “decision” was due to “brutal police pressure suffered in recent weeks.”
A representative of the Cuban government assured in statements to Efe that there has been no agreement between Havana and Madrid to facilitate the departure of the dissident’s country, that the Cuban authorities “have nothing to do” with that departure of García Aguilera and that the activist would have processed the tourist visa on his own.
To enter this country, one of the requirements imposed on all travelers to Cuba – as well as all areas considered at risk in relation to covid-19 – must necessarily present a negative PCR test, carried out within 48 hours prior to their arrival in Spanish territory. There is no record that, since Sunday, García Aguilera and Prieto left for this purpose.
The Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba has expressed solidarity with Yunior García Aguilera in a statement, in which they recognize “his worth and integrity.” In the text, signed by Marthadela Tamayo, Elena Larrinaga and Manuel Cuesta Morúa, they recall that “the regime and the adversaries will make the most of” politically the departure of the playwright “as a way to discourage, demoralize and dismantle the Archipelago”, something they describe from “deja vu that takes us back to times gone by. “
“Regarding a potential exile, it is clear to me that the priority for me will not be what is best for my comfort, how I please my ego or my personal aspirations, but from what place I can be most useful to my country”
Thus, they ask “all together to carry out a political reflection on what happened on 15N” and emphasize that “some well-intentioned young people” have their full support. “They tried openly and in a noble manner to exercise peacefully a right contained in our Magna Carta,” they conclude. “The dynamic of the Cuban government to repress and silence consciences will not achieve its objective.”
In an interview published in BBC News Mundo On Saturday the 13th, García Aguilera himself responded about the possibility of facing prison or exile, as did other opposition figures. “Regarding a potential exile, it is clear to me that the priority for me will not be what is best for my comfort, how I please my ego or my personal aspirations, but from what place I can be most useful to my country, from where I can serve better to the future of Cuba, “he said. “In my personal case, I promise you that this will be the question I ask myself every day when making a decision.”
García Aguilera and his wife, Dayana Prieto, slept at home on Monday and went “for a walk” on Tuesday morning, their relatives told 14ymedio, that he visited the opponent’s home around midnight that same day.
The mother of the playwright’s wife, visibly nervous, told this newspaper that it is unlikely that someone would break into the house and that García Aguilera’s plan was not to open the gate of the door of his house to any stranger, what they feared was that during the walk they went out there had been an arrest.
The neighborhood where García Aguilera lives with his family, La Lisa, which was completely militarized between Sunday and Monday, presented a total calm last night and, apparently, the surveillance had been lifted.
The Archipelago platform declared the opponent and his wife missing on Tuesday, after a collaborator repeatedly knocked on the door of their house at around 6 in the afternoon without obtaining a response, and asked for a life certificate. Hours later, he confirmed his concern and urgently demanded proof that the couple was in good condition.
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