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 collections of poetry that are included in Anthologies of Cuban Poetry, such as 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, Havana, 2000; and Tardos soles que miro, Casa Editora Abril, 2007.
He has also collaborated in various Cuban and international publications. He directed the poetry magazine Amnios, 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 that his ministry carries out against Cuban intellectuals, especially against the members of the San Isidro Movement and for 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 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 talk with 30 representatives of the groups gathered there.
Despite an 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 once again gathered in front of the Ministry of Culture to try to speak with Alpidio about several arbitrary arrests of artists, opposition members, and activists that had occurred, (the Cuban rapper and activist Denis Solís, among others)
Upon arriving at the facilities, the young people encountered a strong police cordon outside. Alpidio Alonso and other officials from the organization violently attacked the youths. A live broadcast 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 for Diario de Cuba.
Since that event, many national and international voices have come together to call for the resignation of the Minister of Culture.
