More than one hundred comedians, artists and writers condemn harassment against Jorge Fernández Era in Cuba

A hundred comedians, artists and writers condemnedState Security harassment in Cuba against the writer and journalistJorge Fernandez Era, sentenced to one year of house arrest for his satirical collaborations with independent press media.

“More than a hundred artists from various fields related to the art of making people laugh have come together to offer our public support to our colleague Jorge Fernández Era, unjustly persecuted in his country for doing his work,” the Cuban writer indicated this Sunday.Enrique Del Risco in theirsocial networks.

To express their solidarity with Fernández Era, the authors and creators signed a letter in which they expressed their support for Fernández Era's cause, “which is that of all of us.”

In the letter, they denounced “the campaign of harassment and discredit” launched against the writer, whom they considered “a reference for Cuban humor for four decades.”

"Despite the above, in recent times the writer has been excluded in all the media with which he collaborated,has been prohibited from traveling abroad and on top of that he has been sentenced toone year of house arrest for the simple crime of satirizing Cuban reality,” the signatories noted.

Using sarcasm and irony, the text of the letter reminded the repressors of the Cuban regime that the duty of a comedian is to “satirize the deficiencies of their society”, a function that should not be persecuted or punished by the authorities.

“It is the duty of a government to fix what does not work in its country, without harassing those who try to make people laugh with what works badly,task so difficult that what it deserves is a prize", they pointed out with sarcasm.

Likewise, they mockingly appealed to the logical capacity of the regime's repressors and censors. “We believe that if the imperialists and their henchmen insist that there are no rights in Cuba,It is very ugly that the police and State Security agree with imperialism", they expressed.

“For all of the above, we publicly demand that the persecution against a colleague who has done nothing other than fulfill his duty as a comedian and exercise his rights as a citizen immediately cease. If you do not know what the duties of a comedian and the rights of a citizen consist of, we promise to explain it to you in a new letter, with many more signatures,” they concluded.

The request, shared through the platformChange.org, already bears the signature of more than one hundred writers, artists and comedians from various countries, among which Ulises Toirac, Alexis Valdés, Lázaro Saavedra, Alen Lauzán, Antonio José Ponte (who signed with his pseudonym Fermín Gabor), Nelson Gudín stand out. (The Bacán of Life), Pavel Giroud, Ramón Fernández Larrea, Claudia Valdés, Ian Padrón and Carlucho.

In addition to the direct harassment of her, at the end of April Fernández Era denounced the decision of the State Security ofretaliate against his son in prison, in another attempt to silence his voice.