Two Cuban intellectuals, critical of the government, were temporarily detained by the Cuban police for reasons apparently related to freedom of expression and demonstration, a source close to both confirmed to EFE this Friday (7).
Those arrested are writer and journalist Jorge Fernández Era and historian Alina Bárbara López Hernández. The two would be linked to La Joven Cubaa platform of intellectuals who criticize the country’s socialist system without belonging to the opposition.
In an editorial, the platform stated that the “arbitrary arrests” of both “represent a violation of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution” of 2019, in addition to demonstrating “the government’s unwillingness to embark on a civic path of dialogue with its citizens” .
As usual, the Cuban Ministry of the Interior did not comment on the matter and there was no coverage of the facts by the official press.
Fernández Era was allegedly taken to the police station on Thursday afternoon (6), apparently because he had not attended a previous summons proposed by State Security in relation to satirical publications on the platform La Joven Cuba and on social networks.
The writer preferred not to make statements to the international press so far due to a “precautionary measure”. The author, who received literary and journalistic awards in Cuba, published for decades in the country’s official press.
Upon learning of Fernández Era’s arrest, López Hernández decided to go to a park in the city of Matanzas to peacefully protest. There, according to her account on social networks, she showed an improvised poster.
According to the historian, three state security agents tried to force her into a vehicle, which she described as an “attempted kidnapping”, which was frustrated. She was reportedly then taken by Cuban police to a police station, where she was questioned and later released with a “warning”.
López Hernández, member of the Cuban Academy of History, argued that the 2019 Constitution includes the right to peaceful demonstration and freedom of expression, but recalled that the legal evolution of these rights has not yet been approved.
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