On the repressive situation in Cuba one year after the European Parliament resolution o the government crackdown on protests and citizens in Cuba

Topic: On the repressive situation in Cuba one year after the European Parliament resolution o the government crackdown on protests and citizens in Cuba (2021/2872(RSP)).

Abstract: In response to the country’s worsening socioeconomic circumstances, rising discontent, and widespread citizen protests, the Cuban government steps up its repression.

1. There are currently at least 953 political prisoners in Cuba, the majority of whom took part in the July 2021 demonstrations. Due to recent arrests and public protests in Camagüey (municipality of Nuevitas) and Artemisa (municipality of Bauta), the data is being updated.
2. From August 2021 to August 2022, we have documented 1,420 arbitrary arrests, mostly in retaliation for the exercise of human rights. A total of 695 women have been arrested and 725 men.
3. Similarly, we have documentation of 2,708 arrests of activists and opponents while they were in their homes within the same time period, an illegal repressive action to prevent activists from attending meetings or to hinder independent journalists in their work.
4. Arrests and home detentions are both carried out without a legal basis; in fact, the majority of these measures are directed by the political police, who rarely provide any formal documentation outlining the justifications for such actions.
5. Due to these systematic repressive actions as well as the constant threats of imprisonment, dozens of activists have been forced to go into exile, some in conditions of insecurity. In the last year, we have witnessed a clear strategy of «emptying» the opposition in Cuba, through forced exile or supressing it with the imprisonment of several of its leaders, such as José Daniel Ferrer, Félix Navarro, Sayli Navarro, Sisi Abascal, Maikel Castillo and Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, among others.
6. It should be noted that the harassment, which was previously concentrated mainly on the political opposition and civil society activists, is today also directed against ordinary citizens who protest the suffocating situation of famine and helplessness, as well as against the relatives of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience to force them not to denounce their situation.
7. Social unrest has been increasing, especially due to the socioeconomic situation and the lack of political, economic, and social changes. Poverty is increasing, due to the structural problems of the system and economic stagnation, the absence of a predictable monetary policy and other strategies such as the so-called Ordering Task (Tarea Ordenamiento), whose consequences have worsened the plight of households; a serious and increasingly humanitarian crisis, which is reflected in the difficulties of families to feed themselves or obtain medicine. Added to this, it is a fact that the regime’s capacity to prevent, mitigate, or manage crises and accidents has diminished.
8. Despite widespread impoverishment, the authorities have increased their budget allocations to hotel real estate investment, in contrast to little investment in health.
9. At least 70 massive social protests took place between July and August 2022, as documented by the Inventory Project (Proyecto Inventario), in our opinion, a very reliable source.
10. According to US authorities, since October 2021, nearly 178,000 Cubans have entered US territory. In addition to this number, it is important to count those who flee to other latitudes and those who are on their way to the southern border of the United States. The size of this exodus is unprecedented for all the years the socialist government has been in power on the island.

September, 2022.