The main opposition organizations to Cuba expressed their support on Saturday for a protest by young artists, members of the San Isidro Movement collective, which began on Monday to denounce the imprisonment of one of their own. “We are already 25 members of Unpacu and Cubadecide to observe a fast in solidarity with the San Isidro Movement”, announced on Twitter the ex-political prisoner José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu)
Santiago de #Cuba Peasants join the support of the strikers of the @Mov_sanisidro and the political prisoners Roilán Álvarez Rensoler, 17 days on hunger strike, and Xiomelis Padilla Bello. More than 50 members of #UNPACU and Promoters of @CUBADECIDE they are fasting. pic.twitter.com/7bPus6yeSF
– José Daniel Ferrer (@jdanielferrer) November 21, 2020
Cubadecide is a movement chaired by Rosa Maria Paya, daughter of the late dissident Oswaldo Paya, who lives in United States.
Moderate dissident organizations, united in the Rally of Democratic Action Unity, also brought in a statement their “Firmer support” At the move : “San Isidro protests and sacrifices himself for all”.
“San Isidro Group, you are not alone”, also wrote on Facebook Berta Soler, leader of the splinter group Ladies in White.
A dozen members of the San Isidro Movement have been camping since Monday in the movement’s premises, in the historic district of Havana, to denounce the imprisonment of one of their members, rapper Denis Solis, arrested on November 9 and sentenced to eight months in prison for « outrage » to authority.
According to this movement, three members continued a hunger and thirst strike on Saturday, which began on Wednesday, while three others were on hunger strike.
An AFP journalist was able to observe on Friday, near the headquarters of the movement, a strong presence of the security forces, which prevented her from approaching.
The case made the American authorities react: “The world is watching, the international community recognizes your peaceful protest”, launched via Twitter, for the attention of the artists, the charge d’affaires of the United States in Cuba, Timothy Zuñiga-Brown.
“The regime must put an end to this total disregard for human rights”, also tweeted the US Under Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Michael Kozak.
In a statement from Amnesty International, the director of the NGO for the Americas, Erika Guevara-Rosas, estimated that “The authorities can continue to harass, intimidate, arrest and criminalize alternative artists and thinkers, but they cannot keep their minds in jail”.
Among the leaders of the San Isidro Movement are plastic artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, imprisoned for 12 days in March for using the Cuban flag in a performance, and musician Maykel Castillo aka Osorbo.
The Cuban Communist government does not legally recognize any opposition movement, which it considers to be “Mercenaries” au service de Washington.
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