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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Cuban Authorities Detain Artist, Dissidents |
| 2015-01-02 |
| Cuban artist Tania Bruguera had a plan to test just how tolerant Cuba had become of dissident voices. She planned a performance at Havana's Revolution Square for Tuesday afternoon. She would provide a microphone and Cubans were encouraged to speak about their vision for the island. Bruguera's performance would be the first event to really challenge the Castro regime's tight control of political dissidence, since Cuba and the United States announced their intent to normalize diplomatic relations. Before the performance, Cuba's arts council issued a statement saying that after long conversations with Bruguera, they had decided not to support a performance of Yo también exijo, or I also demand. The council said the performance was "unacceptable" in such a symbolic space and especially because of the "vast media coverage and the manipulation which the performance has received by counterrevolutionary media." Ultimately, authorities blocked the performance from ever happening. According to 14ymedio.com, a news site run Cuban dissidents, Bruguera was arrested on Tuesday. The news site reports that the plaza where the performance was going to take place was surrounded by police. One painter, a photographer, a former political prisoner and two journalists with Diario de Cuba were arrested as they made their way to the performance. Roberta Jacobson, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said on Twitter that freedom of expression remains at the core of U.S. policy toward Cuba. Jeff Rathke, a State Department spokesperson, said that the U.S. will "press the Cuban government to uphold its international obligations and to respect the rights of Cubans to peacefully assemble and express their ideas and opinions..." The New York Times editorial board, which has for months called for an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba, lamented Tuesday's events. Update: Cuba later freed some dissidents after holding them overnight. Among those released on Wednesday was performance artist Tania Bruguera, who organized the demonstration. After about an hour of freedom, she was picked up again by police and lectured for about two-and-a-half hours, she said. The detentions were typical of how Cuba breaks up opposition protests but took on greater significance coming just two weeks after U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro said they would restore diplomatic ties and end decades of hostility. A Cuban government official declined to comment. |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #1 There is a tradition with radicals/communists of viewing liberals as useful idiots. Look for liberals in the U.S. to start carping--well maybe not so much. At least this abuse of dissents in Cuba might create some cognitive dissonance among the intelligentsia in the U.S. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2015-01-02 10:34 |