The Cuban dissident movement is a

political movement A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Som ...

in Cuba whose aim is to replace the current government with a liberal democracy. According to

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...

, the

Cuban government Cuba has had a socialist political system since 1959 based on the "one state – one party" principle. Cuba is constitutionally defined as a Marxist–Leninist state. The present Constitution of Cuba, which was passed in a 2019 referendum, also ...

represses nearly all forms of

political dissent Political dissent is a dissatisfaction with or opposition to the policies of a governing body. Expressions of dissent may take forms from vocal disagreement to civil disobedience to the use of violence.

Background

1959 Cuban Revolution

Fidel Castro came to power with the Cuban Revolution of 1959. By the end of 1960, according to Paul H. Lewis in ''Authoritarian Regimes in Latin America'', all opposition newspaper had been closed down and all radio and television stations were in state control. Lewis states that moderate teachers and professors were purged, about 20,000

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the ...

s were held and tortured in prisons.

Homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to p ...

s as well as other "deviant" groups who were barred from military conscription, were forced to conduct their compulsory military service in camps called "

Military Units to Aid Production Military Units to Aid Production or UMAPs (Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Producción) were agricultural forced labor camps operated by the Cuban government from November 1965 to July 1968 in the province of Camagüey.Guerra, Lillian. ""Gender ...

" in the 1960s, and were subjected to political " reeducation". Some of Castro's military commanders brutalized the inmates. In nearly all areas of government, loyalty to the regime became the primary criterion for all appointments.

Government authority

* The media is operated under the

Cuban Communist Party The Communist Party of Cuba ( es, Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 2 ...

’s Department of Revolutionary Orientation, which "develops and coordinates propaganda strategies". * A

1999 report on Cuba notes that Cuba has penalties for anyone who "threatens, libels or slanders, defames, affronts (injuria) or in any other way insults (ultraje) or offends, with the spoken word or in writing, the dignity or decorum of an authority, public functionary, or his agents or auxiliaries". There are even harsher penalties for those who show contempt for the President of the Council of the State, the President of the National Assembly of Popular Power, the members of the Council of the State or the Council of Ministers, or the Deputies of the National Assembly of the Popular Power. * There is a three-month to one-year sentence for anyone who "publicly defames, denigrates, or scorns the Republic's institutions, the political, mass, or social organizations of the country, or the heroes or martyrs of the nation". * Cubans are not allowed to produce, distribute or store publications without telling to authorities. * Social dangerousness, defined as violations of ''socialist morality'', can warrant "pre-criminal measures" and "therapeutic measures". * Regarding institutions, the Human Rights Watch report notes that the Interior Ministry has principal responsibility for monitoring the Cuban population for signs of dissent. * In 1991, two new mechanisms for internal surveillance and control emerged. Communist Party leaders organized the Singular Systems of Vigilance and Protection (Sistema Unico de Vigilancia y Protección, SUVP). Rapid Action Brigades (Brigadas de Acción Rapida, also referred to as Rapid Response Brigades, or Brigadas de Respuesta Rápida) observe and control dissidents. The regime also "maintains academic and labor files (expedientes escolares y laborales) for each citizen, in which officials record actions or statements that may bear on the person's loyalty to the regime. Before advancing to a new school or position, the individual's record must first be deemed acceptable".

Situation today

In 2017, Cuba was described as one of only two "

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voti ...

regimes" in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with t ...

by '' The Economists 2017 Democracy Index. The island had the second highest number of imprisoned journalists in the world in 2008, second only to the People's Republic of China, according to the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journal ...

(CPJ), an international press organization. The military of Cuba is a central organization; it controls 60 percent of the economy and is Raúl Castro's base. According to a paper published in the '' Harvard International Review'', dissident groups are weak and infiltrated by Cuban state security. Media is totally state-controlled. Dissidents find it difficult to organize and "Many of their leaders have shown enormous courage in defying the regime. Yet, time and again, the security apparatus has discredited or destroyed them. They do not represent a major threat to the regime." Press conference, Havana

The paper ''Can Cuba Change?'' in the National Endowment for Democracy's '' Journal of Democracy'' states that about nine-tenths of the populace forms an economically and politically oppressed underclass and "Using the principles of democracy and human rights to unite and mobilize this vast, dispossessed majority in the face of a highly repressive regime is the key to peaceful change". Working people are a critical source of discontent. The only legal trade union is controlled by the government and strikes are banned.

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of West African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural ...

dissidents have also risen, fueled by racism in Cuba. In 2012,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

warned that repression of Cuban dissidents was on the rise over the past two years, citing the Wilmar Villar hunger strike death, as well as the arrests of prisoners of conscience Yasmin Conyedo Riveron, Yusmani Rafael Alvarez Esmori, and Antonio Michel and Marcos Máiquel Lima Cruz. The Cuban Commission of Human Rights reported that there were 6,602 detentions of government opponents in 2012, up from 4,123 in 2011.

Dissident groups

There are a number of opposition parties and groups that campaign for political change in Cuba. Though amendments to the

Cuban Constitution Even before attaining its independence from Spain, Cuba had several constitutions either proposed or adopted by insurgents as governing documents for territory they controlled during their war against Spain. Cuba has had several constitutions si ...

of 1992 decriminalized the right to form political parties other than the

Communist Party of Cuba The Communist Party of Cuba ( es, Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 2 ...

, these parties are not permitted to engage in public political activities on the island. *

Alpha 66 Alpha 66 is an anti-Castro paramilitary organization. The group was originally formed by Cuban exiles in the early 1960s and was most active in the late 1970s and 1980s. Its activities declined in the 1980s. Historian Alan McPherson describes it a ...

, an organization that targets the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. * Christian Liberation Movement, a movement and group of Catholics that was founded by

Oswaldo Payá Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas (29 February 1952 – 22 July 2012) was a Cuban political activist. A Roman Catholic, he founded the Christian Liberation Movement in 1987 to oppose the one-party rule of the Cuban Communist Party. He attracted in ...

. *

Ladies in White Ladies in White ( es, italics=no, Damas de Blanco) is an opposition movement in Cuba founded in 2003 by wives and other female relatives of jailed dissidents and those who have been made to disappear by the government. The women protest the impr ...

received the

Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, commonly known as the Sakharov Prize, is an honorary award for individuals or groups who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought. Named after Russian scientis ...

from the European Parliament in 2005. * Lawton Foundation, a organization to promote the "study, defense, and denunciation of human rights inside Cuba". The group was formed by Oscar Elías Biscet. * Cuban Democratic Directorate, a non-governmental organization aligned with the

Centrist Democrat International The Centrist Democrat International ( es, Internacional Demócrata de Centro) is a Christian-democratic political international. Until 2001, it was known as the Christian Democrat International (CDI); before 1999, it was known as the Christian ...

and

International Democratic Union The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an international alliance of centre-right political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 full and associate members from 65 countries. It is chaired by Stephen Harper, ...

. * Omega 7, a small terrorist group that operated against the Cuban government from the 1960s to the 1980s. * Patriotic Union of Cuba – Founded by José Daniel Ferrer, a former member of the Christian Liberation Movement, it has defined itself as a civic organization that advocates for a peaceful but firm fight against any repression of civil liberties in the Republic of Cuba. * Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights *

San Isidro Movement The San Isidro Movement (, abbreviated MSI) is a group of Cuban artists, journalists and academics formed in 2018 to protest against the government's increased censorship of artistic expression in Cuba. The group's members have staged protests, per ...

, a group of writers, artists, academics and journalists protesting restriction on freedom of expression, beginning in 2018. *

Varela Project The Varela Project ( es, Proyecto Varela) is a project that was started in 1998 by Oswaldo Payá of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) and named after Felix Varela, a Cuban religious leader. Many members were imprisoned during the Black Spr ...

, an organization reported to have collected more than 10,000 signatures for a referendum requesting freedom of the press, freedom of political association, and freedom to create private business in Cuba. According to

, their methods were non-violent, and their philosophy was democratic. The government responded with its own petition drive to make the socialist system "untouchable", for which the government claimed 99% voter approval. Fidel Castro said that, "The revolutionary process of socialism cannot be reversed" and "Cuba will never return to

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private pr ...

". *

Yo No Coopero Con La Dictadura ( en, I Do Not Cooperate with the Dictatorship) is a civil disobedience campaign by Cuban democracy activists. The campaign was launched by political prisoners Jorge Luis García Pérez and Jose Daniel Ferrer in 2005. Activists in Cuba carry ...

( en, I Do Not Cooperate with the

Dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...

), a

civil resistance Civil resistance is political action that relies on the use of nonviolent resistance by ordinary people to challenge a particular power, force, policy or regime. Civil resistance operates through appeals to the adversary, pressure and coercion: it ...

organization.

Dissidents

Black Spring

During the "Black Spring" in 2003, the regime imprisoned 75 dissidents, including 29 journalists. Their cases were reviewed by Amnesty International who officially adopted them as prisoners of conscience. To the original list of 75 prisoners of conscience resulting from the wave of arrests in spring 2003, Amnesty International added four more dissidents in January 2004. They had been arrested in the same context as the other 75 but did not receive their sentences until much later. These prisoners have since been released in the face of international pressure. Tripartite talks between the Cuban government, the Catholic Church in Cuba and the Spanish government were initiated in spring 2010 in reaction to the controversial death of political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo in February 2010 following a hunger strike amid reports of massive abuse at the hands of prison staff. These negotiations resulted in a July 2010 agreement that all remaining prisoners of the 'Group of 75' would be freed. Spain offered to receive those prisoners who would agree to be released and immediately exiled together with their families. Of the 79 prisoners of conscience 56 were still behind bars at the time of the agreement. Of the total group, 21 are still living in Cuba today whereas the others are in exile, most of them in Spain. The final two prisoners were released on 23 March 2011.

Notable people

* Manuel Vázquez Portal, a poet, writer, and a journalist, received the 2003

CPJ International Press Freedom Award The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honor journalists or their publications around the world who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment. Established in 1991, the awards are administered by ...

. * Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, a jailed nuclear engineer and journalist, received the 2008

. *

Jorge Luis García Pérez Jorge Luis García Pérez (known as Antúnez, born 10 October 1964, Placetas, Cuba) is an Afro-Cuban human rights and democracy activist. Dissident career Antúnez was jailed for 17 years from 1990 to 2007. Other dissidents have referred to Antú ...

(known as Antúnez) was jailed for criticizing communism and spent 17 years in jail until released in 2007. As the longest-serving jailed black dissident when he was released, he has been referred to as Cuba's Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mendela, on the other hand, was an outspoken supporter of the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro, crediting him with the liberation of his country. *

Jorge Mas Canosa Jorge Lincoln Mas Canosa (21 September 1939 – 24 November 1997) was a Cuban-American businessman who founded the Cuban American National Foundation and MasTec, a publicly traded company. Regarded within the United States as a powerful lobbyist ...

(1939-1997), founder of the

Cuban American National Foundation The Cuban American National Foundation is a foundation with the aim of assisting members of the Cuban community in Miami, Florida. Background and founding The Cuban National American Foundation was founded at a time when Republican American polit ...

Jesus Permuy Jesús A. Permuy (born 1935) is a Cuban-American architect, urban planner, human rights activist, art collector, and businessman. He is known for an extensive career of community projects and initiatives in Florida, Washington, D.C., and Latin A ...

, human rights activist, founder of the Human Rights Center of Miami *

Gorki Águila Gorki Águila (born November 11, 1968 in Havana) is a Cuban rock musician, who has publicly criticized communism. He is the leader of the punk rock band Porno para Ricardo. Águila lives with his father in a small apartment in Marianao, whe ...

, musician * Jose Luis Llovio-Menendez, bureaucrat, defected in 1981. * Rafael del Pino Díaz, Brigadier General. Highest government official to have defected so far, in 1987

Independent bloggers

The Foreign Policy magazine named

Yoani Sánchez Yoani María Sánchez Cordero (born September 4, 1975) is a Cuban blogger who has achieved international fame and multiple international awards for her critical portrayal of life in Cuba under its current government. Sánchez attended primary ...

one of the ''10 Most Influential Intellectuals of Latin America'', the only woman on the list. An article in ''

El Nuevo Herald ''El Nuevo Herald'' is a newspaper published daily in Spanish in Southeast Florida, United States. Its headquarters is in Doral. ''El Nuevo Heralds sister paper is the '' Miami Herald'', also produced by the McClatchy Company. About ''el Nuev ...

'' by Ivette Leyva Martinez, speaks to the role played by Yoani Sanchez and other young people, outside the Cuban opposition and dissidence movements, in working towards a free and democratic Cuba today: On 29 March 2009, at Tania Bruguera's performance where a podium with an open mic was staged for people to have one minute of uncensored public speech, Sánchez was among people to publicly criticize censorship in Cuba and said that "the time has come to jump over the wall of control". The government condemned the event. Sánchez is now under permanent surveillance by Cuba's police force, which camps outside her home.

June 2010 letter to United States Congress

On Thursday, 10 June 2010, seventy-four of Cuba's dissidents signed a letter to the United States Congress in support of a bill that would lift the US travel ban for Americans wishing to visit Cuba. The signers include blogger Yoani Sanchez and hunger striker Guillermo Farinas, as well as Elizardo Sanchez, head of Cuba's most prominent human rights group and Miriam Leiva, who helped found the Damas de Blanco, or Ladies in White, a group of wives and mothers of jailed dissidents. The letter supports a bill introduced on 23 February by Rep. Collin Peterson, a Minnesota Democrat, that would bar the president from prohibiting travel to Cuba or blocking transactions required to make such trips. It also would bar the White House from stopping direct transfers between US and Cuban banks. The signers stated that:

We share the opinion that the isolation of the people of Cuba benefits the most inflexible interests of its government, while any opening serves to inform and empower the Cuban people and helps to further strengthen our civil society.

The Center for Democracy in the Americas, a Washington-based group supporting the bill, issued a press release stating that "74 of Cuba's most prominent political dissidents have endorsed the Peterson-Moran legislation to end the travel ban and expand food exports to Cuba because in their words it is good for human rights, good for alleviating hunger, and good for spreading information and showing solidarity with the Cuban people. Their letter answers every argument the pro-embargo forces use to oppose this legislation. This, itself, answers the question 'who is speaking for the Cuban people in this debate?' - those who want to send food and Americans to visit the island and stand with ordinary Cubans, or those who don't. If Cuba's best known bloggers, dissidents, hunger strikers, and other activists for human rights want this legislation enacted, what else needs be said?" The Center also hosts English as well as the Spanish version of the letter signed by the 74 dissidents.

Hunger strikes

On 3 April 1972, Pedro Luis Boitel, an imprisoned poet and dissident, declared himself on hunger strike. After 53 days on hunger strike without receiving medical assistance and receiving only liquids, he died of starvation on 25 May 1972. His last days were related by his close friend, poet

Armando Valladares Armando Valladares Perez (born May 30, 1937) is a Cuban-American poet, diplomat and former political prisoner for his involvement in the Cuban dissident movement. In 1960, he was arrested by the Cuban government for conflicting reasons; the Cu ...

. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the Cólon Cemetery in Havana.

Guillermo Fariñas Guillermo Fariñas Hernández (born 3 January 1962) ("El Coco") is a Cuban doctor of psychology, independent journalist and political dissident in Cuba. He has conducted 23 hunger strikes over the years to protest various elements of the Cuban g ...

did a seven-month hunger strike to protest against the extensive Internet censorship in Cuba. He ended it in autumn 2006 with severe health problems, although still conscious. Reporters Without Borders awarded its cyber-freedom prize to Fariñas in 2006.

(known as Antúnez) has done hunger strikes. In 2009, following the end of his 17-year imprisonment, Antúnez, his wife Iris, and Diosiris Santana Pérez started a hunger strike to support other political prisoners. Leaders from Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Argentina declared their support for Antúnez. Orlando Zapata Tamayo, an imprisoned activist and dissident, died while on a hunger strike for more than 80 days. Zapata went on the strike in protest against the Cuban government for having denied him the choice of wearing white dissident clothes instead of the designated prisoner uniform, as well as denouncing the living conditions of other prisoners. As part of his claim, Zapata was asking for the prisoners conditions to be comparable to those that Fidel Castro had while incarcerated after his 1953 attack against the Moncada Barracks. In 2012, Wilmar Villar Mendoza died after a 50+ day hunger strike.

Cuban exiles

More than one million Cubans of all social classes have left the island to the United States, and to Spain, the UK, Canada, Mexico and other countries. Because leaving required exit permit and a substantial amount of money, most Cubans could never leave Cuban soil. Many Cuban exiles have actively campaigned for a change of government in Cuba.

References

External links

General links

International Freedom of Expression Exchange
– Monitoring freedom of expression in Cuba

– Report from

about Cuba
Letter from Cuba (Independent Press from Inside and Outside Cuba)
Web site in Spanish and English with articles by Cubans inside of Cuba and outside. From San Juan, Puerto Rico
Fidel Castro: Fervent Opposition
– a slideshow by '' Life magazine''

Opposition groups

Free Cuba Foundation
– official website
Cuban Liberty Council
– official website
US-Cuba Democracy Pac
official website
Cuban American National Foundation (CANF)
– official website
Proyecto Varela
– official website
Movimiento Libertario Cubano
– official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuban dissident movement Since 1959 * * * * Political repression in Cuba Resistance movements Cuba–United States relations 20th century in Cuba 21st century in Cuba