10 - 16 abril

Hola y welcome. Thanks for coming back to CubaCurious.

I’m keeping this week’s post short. Some of you may be clapping out there. I try to keep these brief every week, but my passion for this news pushes me on and on. Thanks for your patience and interest.

I’ve been busy preparing for the launch of my memoir, Property of the Revolution: From a Cuban Barrio to a New Hampshire Mill Town. It comes out this coming Tuesday, April 22nd. Super exciting, but I’ve been so busy getting ready for the launch that I’m going to keep it brief, for me.

I’m offering you a short news item that caught my eye and got me thinking about the cost of freedom of speech in Cuba. Freedom of the press is, for me, the key to a liberal democracy. It hasn’t existed in Cuba since the revolution.

As always, I’d love to know your thoughts on this or any Cuba news you’d like to know more about. I’ve been trying to avoid news that makes mainstream headlines here. But maybe commentary would be interesting for you.

The Trump administration’s new sanctions aimed at stopping Cuba’s controversial medical missions is an example of news that’s easily available but, I feel, needs clearer context.

This Times report on the topic is generally fair, but it doesn’t mention the well-documented testimonies of Cuban doctors—who’ve defected from missions—about being forced to mix political coercion with medicine. In one case, a doctor reported he was prohibited from providing oxygen to a patient who opposed Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro. The article covers the other abuses taking place, but this one is key—and it was left out.

The report also glosses over the pressure on the doctors to “volunteer” for the missions. And it perpetuates the myth that the the regime uses income from the missions to support medical care for citizens at home.

Important context that is too often missing in these articles.

As always, I’d love to hear from you. Please comment below on this post or any news you’d like me to cover.

Hasta la semana que viene,

Ana

What Freedom of Expression Costs in Cuba

An independent reporter who’d been held for interrogation since January was sent to the notorious Combinado del Sur prison for investigating drug trafficking at a Matanzas high school. Yadiel Hernández had been reporting on the story for independent news outlet 14ymedio when he went missing. Shortly after his disappearance, the content of his Facebook account was deleted. Visitors to his page receive only see the message: “content not available.”

After unsuccessful attempts to reach the reporter’s family, a source with close ties to the Hernándezes told the editorial team that he’d been detained and interrogated at Versalles, state security headquarters in Matanzas. 14ymedio learned he was transferred to the prison in recent days and charged with “propaganda against the constitutional authority.”

According to Cuba’s legal code the charge carries possible sentences of life in prison and death.

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The source said local authorities had been arresting people who might report on the the drug sales at the school and “on 24 January had taken Hernández, who’d been investigating the story for a while.”

14ymedio decided to go public with Hernández’s story after consulting with friends and rights groups who believe the best way to help Yadiel is to spread the word and hope international rights groups are able to defend him.

Authorities have persecuted independent journalists for decades. After the 11J protests, the punishments have worsened. Only state-approved media can report news. People can be imprisoned for posts critizising the regime. The few remaining independent news sources within Cuba are blocked online, their reporters’ homes raided, their equipment confiscated, and cell service to them, their families, and their neighbors cut off.

Another 14ymedio reporter, José Gabriel Barrenechea, has been in prison for five months for joining the 8 February protests in Villa Clara. The reporter managed to send this message from prison: "No one can ask me to feel anything positive for a political system, institutions, and a leadership team that are ultimately responsible for this hell to which my life has been reduced."

The Committee to Protect Journalists, the Inter-American Press Association, Article 19, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations have condemned the Cuban laws prohibiting free speech and the right to information—and the constant abuse of reporters and artists not aligned with the regime.

Persecuted and forcibly exiled Cuban journalists like José Luis Tan Estrada, Luz Escobar, Yuri Valle Roca say going public and gaining international support is crucial for jailed reporters.

That’s never an easy choice. It seems like Yadiel’s family prefers to stay silent to protect him. Let’s hope 14ymedio’s gamble pays off and Yadiel is freed.

Cuban Treat of the Week

Our Havanese pups, Beny Moré and Luna, have Cuban-ness in their DNA. They are verbal, spunky, curious, and love food. I’m teaching them to dance. More on that later.

Beny Moré Flaster. Age 15 months.

Luna (she doesn’t need a middle name) Flaster, Beny’s aunt. Age 4.