To promote a nonviolent transition to a Cuba that respects human rights, political and economic freedoms, and the rule of law.
Manuel Vázquez Portal of the "Group of the 75" presents his book "Marked Letters" tomorrow night in Miami. Cuban Spring at 20. Updates on three Cuban prisoners of conscience.
Marked Letters "Cartas marcadas", a new book written by poet, journalist, and former prisoners of conscience Manuel Vázquez Portal during his imprisonment in Cuba, will be presented at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora tomorrow Friday, June 9, 2023 at 7:30pm at American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora 1200 Coral Way, Miami, Fl 33145 , as part of the Gathering: “The other corner of words”. The book is a compilation of letters written to his wife and son from Cuba's eastern prisons of Aguadores and Boniato. The book was compiled and edited by the Berlin-based publishing house Iliad, and presents a testimony of the price of exercising freedom of expression in totalitarian Cuba under Castroism.
The event will be held in Spanish, and the Center for a Free Cuba is promoting it. The book, Marked Letters "Cartas marcadas", is available online at Amazon.com.
"These letters are the expression of human rebellion against injustice through that gift of divinity that God gave us: love," explains Berta Medina in the book's prologue. Manuel Vázquez Portal was jailed in March 2003 during a crackdown on dissidents in Cuba known as the Black Cuban Spring that ended with 75 Cubans imprisoned for thinking differently from the official creed of Castorism. The names of the prisoner of conscience, their age at the time of arrest, and prison sentences are available online. (Source: Amnesty, 2003). Manuel Vázquez was released on June 23, 2004 due to a strong international campaign for his release.
It is also important to recall that the "Black Cuban Spring" of March 18, 2003 does not encompass the totality of the Cuban Spring that preceded it. The Center for a Free Cuba on March 18, 2023 hosted the panel discussion "End of the Cuban Spring? Conversation with Antonio Diaz Sanchez, José Miguel Martínez Hernández, and Regis Iglesias Ramírez of the Christian Liberation Movement." The discussion in Spanish was moderated by Sebastián Arcos Cazabon, and is available online.
For English speakers, there is a documentary that stands out from that period, The Spring of Cuba La Primavera de Cuba, filmed on the island before and after the crackdown that captures that moment in time filmed by Czech - Chilean journalist Carlos Gonzalez with English subtitles.
Twenty years after the crackdown, two of the dissidents jailed in 2003 were jailed again during the July 11, 2021 protests in Cuba. José Daniel Ferrer García and Félix Navarro Rodríguez, two members of the "group of the 75," are currently serving unjust prison sentences alongside over a thousand other Cubans. Worse yet, Felix Navarro is jailed together with his daughter Sayli Navarro (age 35), who became a Lady in White, together with her mom campaigning for her dad’s release following his 2003 arrest.
Daughter and father jailed for their defense of human rights.
Felix Navarro is a member of the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) board of directors. He has been arbitrarily jailed since July 12, 2021.
Sayli was also detained on July 12th, but was released hours later, and had been staying with her mother, who is in poor health. She has also spoken out against her father's arbitrary imprisonment. Sayli was taken, with her hands and feet chained, to prison on April 18, 2022.
On March 2, 2022 the Cuban dictatorship confirmed the prison sentencesagainst these two Cuban human rights defenders. Félix Navarro Rodríguez, (age 68), condemned to nine years in prison, and his daughter, Sayli Navarro (age 35), condemned to eight years in prison.
On March 18, 2023, a recording was released of Sayli Navarro stating that state security is pressuring her to go into exile in order to get out of prison, and that she rejected their offer.
Three months later, and the plight of the other jailed member of the "group of the 75" raises concerns in the international community.
Nelva Ortega has not heard from her husband prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer in 82 days
On June 7, 2023 Amnistía Internacional Américas (Amnesty International Americas) reported over Twitter that his family has not heard from prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer in 82 days, and that they are not allowed to visit him in prison. Amnesty concluded their message asking: "Where is José Daniel? Free him now!" and presented a powerful video to accompany it.
A day later on June 8th, Amnesty International issued an urgent actionwhich is reproduced in the link below for the full article.
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