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The Cuban historian and activist Alina Bárbara López Hernández published a statement on her Facebook profile asserting her identity as an independent intellectual, rejecting any accusations of seeking personal notoriety, and warning profiles linked to State Security that they will not be able to provoke her.
"I am an intellectual who refused to accept perks or privileges if it meant remaining silent in the face of injustice, human rights violations, and the repression of the Cuban state," López wrote in the text, which comes at a time of mounting pressure on the activist based in Matanzas.
"I am, above all, a Cuban citizen who has fought, against all odds, for the freedom to express my opinions within Cuba without asking anyone for permission to do so. And NO ONE means exactly that," she added.
López was explicit in distancing her activism from any pursuit of audience or protagonism: "I have never written to please audiences, nor to gain likes or followers. I am not a content creator or a YouTuber."
She also clarified that she does not speak on behalf of any organization or party, and that she does not consider herself a hero nor bears the mission of saving Cuba, which she described as "a collective mission."
The statement includes a defense of pluralism as an essential condition for a democratic Cuba: "In a future Cuba, if it is democratic, diverse ideas, proposals, and projects, even opposing ones, must coexist."
Regarding his own intellectual evolution, he acknowledged: "My opinions can be challenged. I do not consider myself infallible; no one is. A decade ago, I didn't think the way I think today."
The text concludes with a direct message to those attempting to destabilize her on social media: "Don't wear yourselves out; I really don't feel provoked by you. I have my priorities very clear in this fight. It's a pity that you don't."
The publication comes just days after López reported the cloning of her phone line by State Security, which she sarcastically referred to as the "fifth best police in the world," and after she released a statement describing Cuba as "trapped between an inept government that doesn’t give a damn about its people, and an American politician who doesn’t give a damn about international law."
In April, she was arrested in Matanzas while attempting to carry out her monthly protest and was held and isolated for more than nine hours.
In February, she was detained for 12 hours along with activist Leonardo Romero Negrín and charged with "contempt," which both rejected. Additionally, she faces a suspended trial with no date for charges of "assault," with a prosecutor's request for four years in prison.
Since March 2023, López has been holding peaceful protests every 18th at the Parque de la Libertad in Matanzas, carrying a blank sign to demand amnesty for political prisoners, an end to repression, and a Constituent Assembly. In March of this year, on the 103rd anniversary of the Protest of the Thirteen, he explained the meaning of this monthly resistance: "Protesting every 18th was my way of expressing that I disagreed with how this system crushed our rights."
The post is accompanied by two quotes attributed to José Martí, including: "Where there is no equity or respect for all opinions, there is no homeland, only a dictatorship."
López also faces a sentence from November 2023 for "disobedience," involving a fine of 7,500 Cuban pesos that he refused to pay and appealed, citing political motivations. His case has been condemned by international human rights organizations that document the systematic persecution of the regime against intellectuals and activists exercising their right to dissent from within the island.
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