Alpidio Alonso Grau, born in Yaguajay on November 5, 1963, is a Cuban poet and editor, graduated from the Universidad Central de 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, La casa como un árbol, Editorial Sed de Belleza, Santa Clara, 1995, Alucinaciones en el jardín de Ana, Editorial Capiro, Santa Clara, 1995, El árbol en los ojos, Editorial Reina del Mar Editores, Cienfuegos, 1998, Ciudades del viento, Premio Calendario 1999, Casa Editora Abril, La Habana, 2000, Tardos soles que miro, Casa Editora Abril, 2007.
He has also contributed to various Cuban and foreign publications. He directed the poetry magazine Amnios, promoted by the Ministry of Culture, and he wrote and hosted the radio program "Verso a verso" on the station Radio Metropolitana de La Habana.
As the 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 members of the San Isidro Movement and the very violence with which Alpidio reacted following the events of January 27, 2021 when a group of young people protested outside his ministry.
On November 27, 2020, a group of young representatives of Cuban artists who criticized the repression of the San Isidro Movement and 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 again outside the Ministry of Culture to attempt to speak with Alpidio about various arbitrary arrests of artists, opponents, and activists that had occurred, (the Cuban rapper and activist Denis Solís, among others)
Upon arriving at the facilities, the young people were met with a strong police cordon outside. Alpidio Alonso and other officials from the agency violently attacked the youths. A live transmission from the independent magazine Periodismo de Barrio showcased the violence of several officials, including the minister himself, who assaulted one of the young men filming: Mauricio Mendoza, a collaborator from Diario de Cuba.
Since that incident, many national and international voices have come together to call for the resignation of the Minister of Culture.
