Artists and intellectuals respond to UNEAC: "They have chosen to support the repression against their people"

In reference to the UNEAC statement, the intellectuals and artists expressed that it was preferable to choose silence rather than subscribe to the lie that protects the abuse.

| 10/10/2022 - 3:03pm (GMT-5)

Cargando — Repression in Cuba Photo © Marcos Évora

Represión en Cuba © Marcos Évora — Repression in Cuba Photo © Marcos Évora

This article is from 1 year ago

More than a hundred artists and intellectuals responded to the statement of the ruling National Union of Artists and Writers of Cuba (UNEAC) that denies repression in the country after massive protests.

The statement, sent to the editorial office of CyberCuba, illustrates the current economic crisis, the terrible government management and the violations of human rights in Cuba.

Likewise, he calls writers, historians and researchers incoherent for attempting to mask the institutional violence that they themselves suffered and for criminalizing the demands of the people that they once defended.

Those interested in signing the declaration can write to declaracion2022ciudadania@gmail.com and provide their name, surname, profession and identification document.

Below, we share the entire text and the list of signatories:

From Cuban artists and intellectuals to Cuban citizens and international public opinion

We, members of the intellectual and artistic community, in light of the recent statements of the Union of Artists and Intellectuals of Cuba express that:

Cuba is a country involved in a multiple crisis, aggravated by natural events and external sanctions, but fundamentally caused by the exhaustion of the prevailing economic and political model. Where a Constitution recognizes rights that are violated in practice by officials and police forces. Where a single Party stands over the State and a society diverse in its identities and demands. Where there are more than a thousand citizens imprisoned for demonstrating and expressing themselves, as the people of other Latin American countries do. Where the government has chosen to invest in hotels instead of addressing the accumulated needs of the population. Where around 200,000 Cubans have escaped in the last year, by any means and risking their lives.

That is Cuba today.

The information about what is happening is visible to whoever wants to see it. Including testimonies of popular protests that bring together various claims, ranging from the mismanagement of the authorities to the human desire for freedom.

This information is no longer the exclusive property of official media or institutions. The official data itself reveals government investment priorities and the negative impact of economic policy decisions on the living conditions of the population.

Official and independent academics have criticized the Ordering Task, suggesting its correction. Nothing happens. Those responsible for those decisions remain in their positions. The lack of political will is evident for a population that demands urgent responses from officials in the face of the growing impoverishment of life. UNEAC officials, artists and academics speak out today against this population – its urgencies and needs. They do it with elitist language, which prioritizes a State agenda over the demands of ordinary people.

In a document that denies the humanist values of national history and culture; a text that is intellectually mediocre, politically reactionary and socially insensitive, writers who were repressed justify the repression; historians and jurists disguise the power of the bureaucracy and abandon the real people; Researchers who focus their books and articles on the analysis of popular subjects, racial dynamics or social exclusion, today criminalize the demands and rights of social groups that they presented yesterday in conferences and academic spaces, whether in the country or in the foreign.

Suffice it to say that they had no other alternative. There always is. It is always possible to choose. At least, not subscribe to the lie that protects abuse and choose, without heroism, silence. But those who sign this have chosen to support the repression exercised against their people.

We, on the other hand, denounce it.