In our recent IWL-FI statement on Cuba, we pointed out, along with the need to expose and repudiate the government repression, which has already claimed at least one death, the urgent need “to launch an immediate campaign for the freedom of political prisoners.” As we believe that “solidarity towards the fighters is part of the tradition of the international workers’ movement,” we proposed “to carry out together a strong campaign. Many prisoners, moreover, are well-known militants of the Cuban left and anti-imperialist fighters, some with several published articles.”
There are calls from various sectors that claim to be left-wing and democratic to sign international petitions for the release of political prisoners and against international repression, with which we have no agreement with various aspects of the texts. Nevertheless, we support their general goal of campaigning for the release of the prisoners and against repression so we’re also publicising these digital petitions and we call on you to join the petitions in the following links. There you can read the full texts and add your signature:
The following are the main aspects of the petitions:
Release Frank García Hernández and his comrades (http://chng.it/)
“For years, even decades, we have denounced the blockade imposed by the U.S. authorities against Cuba. We have denounced and continue to denounce the various policies and measures adopted by Washington since 1959-1960 to isolate, destabilise and attack Cuba. We are committed anti-imperialists and internationalists.
“That is why we are very concerned to learn of the arrests of Frank García Hernández, a Cuban historian and Marxist, Leonardo Romero Negrín, a young socialist studying physics at the University of Havana, Maykel González Vivero, director of Tremenda Nota and Marcos Antonio Pérez Fernández, a college student, during a protest march in Havana on 11 July. Frank García Hernández is a leading scholar who has achieved a worldwide reputation for his work on re-evaluating the history of the Cuban left and organising an international congress on Trotsky in Havana in 2019.
“We call for the unconditional release of Frank and all his comrades and respect for the democratic rights of all Cuban people. … In publishing this petition, we have heard unconfirmed reports that Frank García Hernández was released on Monday, 12 July. We are delighted to hear this and await final confirmation that he has been released. We currently have no information about the other people arrested with Frank.”
Call for the release of detainees in Cuba
(https://www.comunistascuba.org/2021/07/reclamo-por-la-libertad-de-los.html)
“In this afternoon’s demonstrations in Havana, Frank García Hernández was arrested, among other members of the Cuban left.
“This afternoon the Cuban people took to the streets. A people who were not called by any organisation other than the acute economic crisis facing Cuba and the government’s inability to handle the situation. Cuba took to the streets with the wrong slogan “Homeland and life,” but they took to the streets beyond a slogan, they took to the streets to demand real socialism from the government. Those on the streets were not just artists and intellectuals, this time it was the people in their broadest heterogeneity. … This note is a demand for the release of all detainees and especially for the arbitrary detention of Frank García Hernández, Cuban historian and Marxist. For the detention of Leonardo Romero Negrín, a young socialist student of physics at the University of Havana. For the arrest of Maykel González Vivero, director of Tremenda Nota, a fringe magazine. For the arrest of Marcos Antonio Pérez Fernández, a college student. For all those violently arrested on that black afternoon that Cuba will not forget. Communists appeal to the solidarity of the international Marxist community and also to the conscience of the Cuban government. This time it is about a people who need answers and dialogue.
“It is about a civil society that does not want annexation, but wants to participate and decide the destiny of its nation. Communist Blog condemns the repression and says enough to the bureaucracy.”
Cuba: Support the Campaign to Release the Prisoners!
