While Cuba reaches a historic record of 1,339 political prisoners and State Security detains activists in the streets, the top leadership of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) traveled to Geneva to explain to the world the “commitment to human rights” that “prevails in Cuba.”
The president of the organization, Marta Bonet de la Cruz, and the first vice president, Magda Resik Aguirre, presented an agenda in Switzerland during the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, which is taking place in Geneva from September 7 to October 7, 2026.
On Friday, September 18, Bonet addressed the plenary session of the Council to defend "the universal and free nature of education and access to culture in Cuba" and to denounce the U.S. embargo as the main obstacle to the artistic flourishing of the Island.
The UNEAC, which has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc) since 1998, took the opportunity to project, according to its own statement, "the comprehensive perspective that prevails in Cuba regarding commitment to human rights and the obstacles posed by the U.S. to their full enjoyment." A statement that, made from Geneva, sounds almost "poetic" when considering what was happening simultaneously on the Island.
On the very same September 18, while Bonet was asserting before diplomats that "Cuban art, literature, heritage, and artists [...] have the right to both creative freedom and life," State Security agents detained the intellectual and historian Alina Bárbara López Hernández as she was heading to her monthly civic protest. She was held for almost five hours, marking at least her sixth detention of the year.
The same UNEAC had expelled her from its ranks in September 2024 for "activities against the revolution," a decision that prompted the public resignation of the writer Jorge Fernández Era.
The backdrop of the tour becomes even more telling when the numbers are laid out. According to Prisoners Defenders, Cuba closed August 2026 with 1,339 political prisoners, a record high since the protests on July 11, 2021. Cubalex documented 1,894 events of human rights violations between January and June 2026, affecting 919 victims. That is the "comprehensive perspective" that UNEAC preferred not to mention in Geneva.
The organization also did not remind diplomats that in August 2025, the writer Laideliz Herrera Laza publicly resigned from UNEAC, accusing it of remaining silent in the face of repression against intellectuals and acting as a cover for repressive policies. Nor did it mention that the organization itself backed the repression following the 11J events of 2021 and issued a statement against the musicians of "Patria y Vida".
The Swiss agenda also included a more festive chapter: in Bern, the UNEAC awarded the Russian dancer, choreographer, and teacher Azari Plisetski the International Josefina Méndez Prize, in recognition of his contribution to the development of Cuban ballet. Plisetski was associated with the National Ballet of Cuba for a decade and served as the principal partner of Alicia Alonso for over eight years. Among his creations is Canto Vital, which premiered with the National Ballet of Cuba in 1973 and is still part of the company's repertoire.
The ceremony, held at the Cuban Embassy with the participation of Ambassador Laura Pujol, also brought together other representatives from Cuba and Russia—two countries with a very "particular" relationship with human rights—alongside artists from the Island residing in the European country.
Alongside the UNEAC, representatives from the Union of Jurists of Cuba and the Cuban Association of Animal Production attended the Council, all under the umbrella of the Cuban Association of the United Nations (ACNU). A well-coordinated and substantial delegation delivered a unified message: the problem of Cuba is named the embargo.
The tour is also part of the 65th anniversary of the organization, which has been celebrated on the Island with an intense propaganda campaign featuring Fidel Castro as the central figure.
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