It has been confirmed that Frank García Hernández and Maikel Gonzalez Vivero have been released. However they remain under a form of house arrest, restricted in their movements and still face charges. The other two comrades who were arrested have not been released. Here is a statement of solidarity from a supporter of the detained comrades: *********************************************************************************** Greetings
to all, friends of the IV International and also persons that signed in support
of the liberation of Mikael González Vivero, Frank García Hernández, Leonardo
Romero Negrín y Marco Antonio Pérez. I
want to thank you personally for having responded to the call for solidarity
that I made in moments in which they were arrested. I never expected so much support. I never expected so much love from so many
different places. It really moved me to
see people from all over the world concerned by the situation of this young
socialists that have been arrested in these demonstrations. For
now, we are still giving the fight though some of them were released: Frank,
our comrade Frank, and Mikael González Vivero.
However, Marco Antonio Pérez, a minor, and Leonardo Romero Negrín, 21
years-old, are still detained. They are
very close to me, personally, and they are also young socialists that should
not be there (detained). They were not
violent during the demonstrations and they did not commit any crime yet they
were detained in an arbitrary and violent manner by the repressive arm of the
State. I greatly appreciate the support and I tell you that in Cuba my battle for them to be freed will not cease. Nor will my battle to defend freedom and socialism, true socialism, in my country, cease. Cuba without annexation! Cuba without embargo! But Cuba, free, democratic and of the workers! Socialism, yes! Repression, no! A fraternal embrace.
*********************************************************************************** There has been a groundswell of support for the release of the comrades that were arrested. A petition on change.org has gathered the signature of many prominent activists and public intellectuals including Noam Chomsky. You can go to this link to sign the petition. Note: We just learned that Frank Garcia
Hernandez, the courageous Cuban scholar and activist who organized the first
International Conference on Trotsky in Havana in 2019, has been detained by the
Cuban authorities. We have no details as
to the circumstances of Frank’s detention except that it is connected to a
government crackdown on dissidents in Cuba spurred on by massive protests
throughout the island that broke out yesterday.
The demonstrations, spread through social media, were protesting the
shortages of food and electricity, the mishandling of the pandemic and in
general the repressive actions of the Cuban bureaucracy. The economic crisis in
Cuba has been greatly aggravated by the cruel blockade imposed on Cuba by U.S.
imperialism. The economic sanctions against Cuba were amped up significantly by
the Trump Administration and has been continued under the Biden
Administration. Beyond this context we do not have any
information about the specific details of the crackdown on dissidents. What we do know is that among the detainees
are left wing dissidents, committed
socialists who have defended the Cuban revolution against imperialism such as
Frank Garcia Hernandez. Since the news broke messages of solidarity
have poured in from international comrades. The Workers Revolutionary Party of Greece (EEK)
have called for the freedom of Frank Garcia Hernandez and the other detainees. Also joining the call for the liberation of
Frank and the other detainees was the Workers Revolutionary Party of Turkey
(DIP). Other calls for solidarity have come from
Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Spain, Finland, and Belgium. Many more messages of solidarity are expected
as news of this repressive action by the Cuban government spreads. We are asking all supporters of socialism and
internationalism to join us in demanding the release of Frank Garcia Hernandez
and the other detainees! Below we are reprinting two articles – in
English translation – that provide a few more details about the detention of
Frank Garcia Hernandez and others. From La Izquierda Diario México http://www.laizquierdadiario.com.mx/Cuba-Libertad-a-Frank-Garcia-Hernandez-y-los-demas-detenidos This Sunday, July 11, mobilizations were held
in Havana and different towns in Cuba, in protest against the health crisis,
the shortage and against different government measures, aggravated by the
tightening of the criminal imperialist blockade of the United States. Within the framework of the protests and the
repression exercised by the police forces against those who mobilized, Frank
García Hernandez was arrested, among other protesters. His friends and
colleagues denounce this arbitrary detention and violent measures taken by the
Cuban forces of repression, who used pepper spray against those who were involved
in the actions. Frank is a Cuban Marxist, sociologist and historian, and a
member of the Communists Blog collective. He was arrested along with Marco
Antonio Perez Fernandez (a high school student, who had been arrested on April
30 for carrying a sign "Socialism yes, repression no"). Also arrested
were Maikel Gonzalez Vivero (director of the LGTBQ community magazine Tremenda
nota), as well as Mel Herrera, a trans activist for LGTBQ rights. All the
detainees claim to be socialists, and in the case of Marco Antonio Perez and
Mel Herrera, their whereabouts are unknown. The blog Comunistas, from Cuba,
published a call for the freedom of detainees in Cuba. We join the voices that
demand, in Cuba and other countries, the immediate release of Frank Garcia and
his companions. We also say enough of repression and arbitrary arrests by the
Cuban government, for the democratic right to protest and free union, social
and political organization. From Communistas Cuba
In
the demonstrations this afternoon in Havana, Frank García Hernández, among other
members of the Cuban left, was arrested.
Note:
not all members of the editorial collective of Comunistas Blog subscribe to
this communication.
This
afternoon the Cuban people took to the streets. A people that was not summoned
by any organization 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" [1] ,
but it took to the streets beyond a slogan, it came out to demand true
socialism from the government. Those who were in the streets were not only
artists and intellectuals, this time it was the town in its broadest
heterogeneity.
This
note from the Comunistas blog does not seek to analyze the situation in Cuba.
It seeks to denounce the violent detention of the protesters, to denounce that
this time the repressive forces of the State put themselves in the opposite
place, that they repressed Cubans, that they used pepper spray and all
available resources. This note is a claim for the freedom of all those detained
and especially for the arbitrary detention of Frank García Hernández, a Cuban
historian and Marxist. For the arrest of Leonardo Romero Negrín, a young
socialist Physics student at the University of Havana. For the arrest of Maykel
González Vivero, director of Tremenda Nota, a marginal magazine. For the arrest
of Marcos Antonio Pérez Fernández, a minor, a high school student. For all
those violently detained on this black afternoon that Cuba will not forget.
Comunistas appeals to the solidarity of the international Marxist community and
also to the conscience of the Cuban government. This time it is about a town
that needs answers and dialogue.
It
is about a civil society that does not want annexation, but rather to
participate and decide the fate of its nation. Communist blog condemns the
repression and says enough to the bureaucracy.
[1]
The slogan is “wrong” because the traditional slogan of the Cuban Revolution is
“Homeland or Death”. (A.S.) |
5 comments:
This arrest should be deeply troubling to socialists who defend the gains of the Cuban revolution against the relentless pressure to destroy it by US imperialism. Garcia Hernandez is no enemy of the revolution, he is rather an opponent of its bureaucratic deformation. To silence such voices is to take a dangerous step on a road that leads to capitalist restoration. US leftists bear a special responsibility to speak out and demand the immediate release of Garcia Hernandez and other detainees!
Frank Brenner
It is both a courageous act and important that Marxists, Cuban as well as others, confront the bureaucracy from the standpoint of the interests of proletarian revolution. The imprisonment of García Hernández and others that defend the working class against the bureaucracy signals a serious retrogression in Cuba that can easily be seized upon be imperialism. I support the freedom of comrade García Hernández.
AE
Statement of classconscious.org : Solidarity with Cuban Marxist historian Frank Garcia Hernadez
classconscious.org joins the calls of other Marxists and leftists from around the world for the release Marxist historian Frank Garcia Hernadez at a protest in Havana by Cuban authorities. Hernadez was arrested along with a number of other socialist comrades. Hernadez, made links with many international Marxists when he organised the first International Academic Conference on Trotsky in Havana.
It should be stated upfront that our solidarity for Hernadez has nothing in common with despicable and predictable phoney outrage from the far right Cuban exile community in the US and the Biden Administration at the crackdown on the protests in Cuba. To hear the blood drenched US President Biden mouth concern over the use of force on protestors should only arouse contempt. The protests were an expression of social pressures in Cuba, exacerbated by the covid crisis, that of course US Imperialism bares overwhelming responsibility for with its six decade long blockade.
“However, as Trotskyists we defend the right of Cuban workers to organize politically to defend the gains of the revolution from imperialism and against moves by the ruling bureaucratic caste to restore capitalist property rights. Whilst the current protests are politically heterogenous in character we defend the pro-socialist elements such as Frank Garcia Hernandez. The arrest of Hernandez and other pro-revolutionary socialists amongst the protestors no doubt reflects the awareness of the Cuban authorities that criticism from the left poses a greater political threat to their rule than the orchestrated campaign of the counter-revolutionary rabble seeking to exploit legitimate grievances.”
Free Frank Garcia Hernadez and other socialist prisoners in Cuba!
Defend the gains of the Cuban Revolution!
Down with US Imperialism and the blockade against the Cuban people!
Right Alex- the historic slogan of the Cuban revolution is “Patria Libre o Muerte! Venceremos!”
Bob Montgomery
I condemn the arrest of Frank Garcia Hernandez and his comrades, who have taken a courageous stand for genuine socialism against the police repression of the Cuban bureaucracy.
- Peter Ross
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