Alpidio Alonso Grau, born in Yaguajay on November 5, 1963, is a Cuban poet and editor who graduated from the Central University of Las Villas with a degree in automatic control engineering. Since July 20, 2018, he has served as the Minister of Culture of Cuba.
He has published several poetry collections that are included in Anthologies of Cuban Poetry, The House as a Tree, Sed de Belleza Publishing, Santa Clara, 1995, Hallucinations in Ana's Garden, Capiro Publishing, Santa Clara, 1995, The Tree in the Eyes, Reina del Mar Editors, Cienfuegos, 1998, Wind Cities, Calendario Prize 1999, Casa Editora Abril, Havana, 2000, Late Suns That I See, Casa Editora Abril, 2007.
He has also contributed to various publications in Cuba and abroad. He directed the poetry magazine Amnios, which was promoted by the Ministry of Culture, and wrote and hosted the radio program "Verso a verso" on Radio Metropolitana in Havana.
As Minister of Culture, Alpidio is one of the most rejected figures by Cuban society due to the repression carried out by his ministry against Cuban intellectuals, especially against the members of the San Isidro Movement and the very violence with which Alpidio reacted after the events of January 27, 2021, when a group of young people protested in front of his ministry.
On November 27, 2020, a group of young representatives of Cuban artists who criticized the repression against the San Isidro Movement as well as the lack of public freedoms on the island marched in a peaceful protest to the Ministry of Culture. After more than 12 hours of public protest, they reached an agreement with the Cuban Deputy Minister of Culture Fernando Rojas, and dissolved their demonstration after he agreed to engage in dialogue with 30 representatives of the groups gathered there.
Despite the agreement to initiate a "dialogue channel" that would include the Minister of Culture among other officials, on January 27, 2021, a group of young people gathered once again in front of the Ministry of Culture to try to speak with Alpidio about several arbitrary arrests of artists, opponents, and activists that had occurred, (the Cuban rapper and activist Denis Solís, among others)
Upon arriving at the premises, the young people encountered a strong police cordon outside. Alpidio Alonso and other officials from the organization violently attacked the young people. A live broadcast by the independent magazine Periodismo de Barrio showed the violence of several officials, including the minister himself, who assaulted one of the young people who was filming: Mauricio Mendoza, a collaborator with Diario de Cuba.
Since that event, many national and international voices have come together to call for the resignation of the Minister of Culture.
