Cuba: the artist Yunior Garcia, figure of the “Archipiélago” movement, refugee in Spain
Havana, November 14, 2021: artist and dissident Yunior Garcia, one of the leaders of the Archipielago movement, signals from his window that access to his house is blocked by Cuban security services.
© AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
He left Havana to take refuge in Madrid.
Cuban opponent Yunior García arrived in Spain yesterday with his wife.
He was the main organizer of Monday's demonstration in the Cuban capital mobilization which had come to an end after the arrest of more than 100 people.
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His plays and scripts for television and film had long been known.
But it is another notoriety, much more perilous, that Yunior Garcia had acquired recently.
A year ago, when hundreds of artists demonstrated to demand more freedom of expression, he became the standard-bearer of a new generation of entertainers, journalists and academics critical of the government.
Last July, Cuba was shaken by large spontaneous demonstrations, a movement unprecedented since the 1959 revolution. Yunior Garcia took part, trying to claim a few minutes of hearing on state television.
He was then arrested, then released the next day.
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The artist created the
Archipiélago
political debate Facebook group
, which has 38,000 members.
It was on this platform that an appeal was launched last Monday in Havana to demand the release of Cuban political prisoners.
Algunas estadísticas del grupo de #Facebook de @ArchipielagoCu: La gran mayoría de nuestros miembros residen en #Cuba véalo usted mismo # 15NCuba #TodosSomosArchipielago # 15NYoMarcho pic.twitter.com/ia0SJiJoKK
- Giselle Gonzalez (she / her / elle / ella) (@gissyggarcia) November 3, 2021
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Yunior Garcia had considered walking alone on Sunday, but he had been stranded at home.
From a last photo of him, holding a white rose, behind its half-open shutter, he was unreachable.
The members of Archipiélago even believed in a kidnapping.
He finally reappeared in Madrid with this message posted on Facebook: "
we arrived in Spain, alive, in good health, with our ideas intact
".
►
To read also
: Two Cuban dissident artists forced into exile
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