Cuba’s opposition leader goes to Spain after protests fail

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Playwright Yunior García, 39, one of the leaders of the protests in Cuba, arrived with his wife at Barajas airport, in Madrid, this Wednesday afternoon (17). The news about the whereabouts of the activist, sought by friends since Tuesday morning (16), comes two days after acts on the Caribbean island were frustrated by the regime’s repression.

The Cuban traveled to the Spanish capital on a tourist visa, and, according to sources consulted by the newspaper El País, the decision to leave the island is due to police pressure against the artist in recent weeks. A spokesman for the regime led by Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed that García is in Spain.

Leader of the Archipiélago movement, which organized the call for a peaceful march against the Cuban regime on Monday (15), the activist planned to do an act alone the day before – he would walk with a white rose through the streets, as a way to demonstrate that the acts they were peaceful. But his home in the capital Havana was surrounded by agents and regime supporters, who prevented him from leaving.

Monday’s acts also failed after the regime arrested protesters and besieged their homes, as well as closing the loop on the professional press. García’s colleagues said on social media that they hadn’t been able to talk to him since Tuesday morning. The activist did not respond to requests for comment made by the Reuters news agency.

The Cuban regime accuses García of responding to orders from the United States, which for six decades has imposed an economic blockade on the island. In response to the accusations, the artist claims that his only salary, of 4,000 Cuban pesos (R$916), comes from the State itself, through the National Council of Performing Arts, the country’s cultural institution.

Born in the city of Holguín, in the east of the island, García is known for his work in theater and cinema. After November 2020, when hundreds of artists demonstrated on the island for more freedom of expression, he became a representative of the new generation critical of the regime, which unites artists, journalists and academics.

More recently, on July 11, when massive acts occupied the streets of different provinces in the country, the artist also joined the mobilizations and was arrested, but was released a day later.

Also on Wednesday, diplomatic sources said the Cuban regime will return the work credentials of two more correspondents from the Spanish news agency Efe. On Sunday, the six members of the vehicle’s branch on the island had their credentials removed, and hours later two of them were returned.

Independent journalist Abraham Jiménez Enoa, a columnist for the American newspaper The Washington Post, had the house besieged by police on Sunday, who said it was under house arrest. Earlier this Wednesday, Enoa reported on social media that the agents had left the neighborhood and that he could therefore go out on the streets.

The local NGO Cubalex gathered 48 cases in which Cubans denounced arrests, besieging of houses, internet cutting and disappearance of activists who would participate in Monday demonstrations.

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