LESSONS FROM THE REVOLUCIÓN DE LOS GIRASOLES IN CUBA
REVOLUCIÓN DE LOS GIRASOLES IN CUBA: REPRESSION
On September 8, 2020 democracy defenders in Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Las Tunas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Ciego de Avila, Matanzas and Habana provinces responded to the call for peaceful protest launched by the Patriotic Union of Cuba and the Cubadecide citizen platform under the banner of “Revolución de los Girasoles¨(Sunflower Revolution). The objective of the protest was to demand the regime to release humanitarian aid sent by Cubans living in the diaspora and call for democratic changes. The day Cubans venerate the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre was the date chosen for the Revolución de Girasoles protest.
Based on the most recent report published by the Fundación para la Democracia Panamericana, an NGO in close contact with activists in Cuba, as of September 9 as of 12 noon there were over 84 democracy defenders that had been arbitrarily arrested in connection with the Sunflower protests before September 8 and during that date. Of that amount, 32 remain still remain under arbitrary arrest. Among the arrested were the leaders of some of Cuba’s most active opposition groups, including José Daniel Ferrer García (Patriotic Union of Cuba, UNPACU), Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara (artist and democracy activist) Berta Soler (Ladies in White), Angel Moya (Alternative Option). The former were all released after several hours of arbitrary arrest but reported being subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Frequent arrests of democracy activists is part of the repressive arsenal used by the regime and in some cases activists such as Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara are arrested as much as 27 times in a 2 year period.
In an article published by Katherine Mojena (activist of the Patriotic Union of Cuba) in Cubanet, the crackdown on dissidents started 72 hours prior to the day of the protests. Some activists were arbitrarily arrested for periods of 24 hours and others for over 50 hours as they refused to comply with threats from earlier days which warned them against attending the protest, said Yordanys Labrada, coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba in Songo La Maya. Among the repressive methods used to dissuade activists from attending the march were permanent police surveillance in front of the home of all active democracy defenders to prevent them from attending, imposition of fines, beatings, violent arrests, home raids, beatings and even anonymous phone threats. Democracy defenders such as Berta Soler for example reported being confined to a Lada patrol car for several hours at high temperatures as well as José Daniel Ferrer, his wife Dr. Nelva Ismarays Ortega and his minor son José Daniel Ferrer Cantillo who were also subjected to verbal threats and other forms of psychological intimidation.
THREE LESSONS FROM THE REVOLUCION DE LOS GIRASOLES IN CUBA
1- THE STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY IN CUBA MUST FALL ON THE SHOULDER OF ALL CUBANS, NOT JUST WITH THE OPPOSITION.
There are a few insights I would like to share on the Sunflower Revolution. I believe it is a flawed and a rather unrealistic argument to point fingers at the opposition in Cuba for the outcome of protests. It is outside anyone’s control if a totalitarian regime such as the one clinging to power in Cuba commits all its resources and repressive know how of 61 years to harshly repress dissent and arrest all members of the opposition who take to the streets to prevent a protest from taking place.
Likewise, we should never forget that the responsibility to bring about democracy in Cuba does not fall with the opposition. It is the responsibility of all Cubans to fight for freedom and stand up to oppression and demand freedom inCuba. This is not the task of a group but the collective realization of an entire nation.
Anyone in Cuba with the courage and commitment to fight for freedom despite persecution, marginalisation and a risk to their own physical integrity deserves recognition and appreciation. They are after all standing up to a regime unlike any other in the world in the 21st century as with the exception of China, North Korea and Saudi Arabia, there is no other totalitarian regimes in the world that have clinged to power for more than 61 years.
2- FOSTERING A CULTURE OF PROTEST: AIMING TO AWAKEN CONSCIENCES.
Over 10,000 banners calling people to join the Sunflower Revolution were placed across the Oriente Province, according with José Daniel Ferrer Garcia leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba.
Despite repression, the call to protest created a crucial precedent aiming to awaken public conscience and fostering a culture of dissent in Cuba. When Marina Paz (a democracy activist arrested by state security in Santiago de Cuba) publicly shouted that democracy defenders “have defeated the regime through peaceful resistance,” she encouraged others other through her actions to join in solidarity. The outcome of her heroic action is beyond her control.
In conceptualizing the manner which these protests helped to encourage rebelliousness, I entirely relate with the thoughtful and forward-looking insight on the September 8 protests shared by Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, artist and democracy activist. He took part in the march in his Habana neighborhood by publicly sitting in a bucket in the middle of the street displaying a placard with a sunflower drawing and the words “Sunflower March.”
Reflecting on the September 8 Sunflower Protest, Luis Manuel said in an interview with Carlos Amel Oliva and José Daniel Ferrer on September 8, 2020:
“These calls to protests are quite needed and should in fact take place every month. I felt I had to take to the streets regardless of the consequences. Every time there is a call to protest, I have to participate. Today, it might just be me but tomorrow there will be 10,000, 20,000 or even a million and they just don’t have enough jail cells to hold that many people. I took to the streets and filmed the entire process to set an example to other activists that we have to set an example by participating even if one is arrested for it. It is a myth to say that the opposition in Cuba is not united. We might have our differences but what matter is that we all share a common love for freedom. I see [Sunflower March] as a victory, like the previous protest on the 30th. We learn as we move forward. This call to protest is a process of civic and political re-education, as a means to instill people with a feeling of rebelliousness … In 2020 we have had about 10 protests and every time the regime perpetrates an atrocity we take to the streets. Today we are 300 or 400, tomorrow I am hopeful we will be more.”
3- THE OPPOSSITION SHOWED THEIR CAPACITY FOR MUTUAL COOPERATION AND ARTICULATION
It is also noteworthy to point out that during the planning and execution of the Revolución de los Girasoles protests, the opposition in Cuba showed their ability to articulate coordinated actions despite constant government surveillance. Some of the most active and leading opposition groups in the island such as the Patriotic Union of Cuba, the Ladies in White, the Cubadecide citizen initiative, the Julio Machado Academy, the Alternative Option Movement as well as artists joined the call to take to the streets on September 8 and coordinated actions on social media and through other means.
As Carlos Amel Oliva, international representative of the Patriotic Union of Cuba said :
“Even though the dictatorship through its repression had attempted to dry up [eradicate] all forms of opposition [during the dates the Sunflower March took place], the events on Tuesday showed the ability of the opposition to unite and act [jointly]. It was a life and death test for the real opposition,” he said.
[Related articles: “Why the Revolución de los Girasoles” in Cuba matters”]
[Arrest of José Daniel Ferrer and His Family]
[Artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara arbitrarily arrested]
[Arrest of Marina Paz and Repression during the Revolución de los Girasoles]
REVOLUCIÓN DE LOS GIRASOLES PROTEST IN CUBA: SEPTEMBER 8, 2020
