The prosecutor’s office and Cuban opponents confront each other over the prohibited march of November 15

The Cuban Prosecutor’s Office warned the organizers of the November 15 peaceful march that they will incur crimes if they maintain their plan, something that has generated strong rejection among opposition activists and in the networks.

If the promoters of the march insist on carrying it out despite the official refusal of the communist authorities, they will face “legal consequences for promoting and conducting illegal marches”Declared the Chief Deputy Prosecutor of the Havana Provincial Prosecutor’s Office, Yahimara Angulo.

He explained that they could commit crimes such as disobedience, illicit demonstrations and instigation to commit a crime and others, punishable by economic sanctions and deprivation of liberty from three months to a year.

The activists announced on October 13 that they would maintain the call for their peaceful march, an unprecedented initiative in 60 years, in a challenge to the Castro regime that had denied permission to carry it out the day before, calling it “illegal.”

Angulo said that Thursday’s warning is based on Article 156 of the Constitution, referring to the functions of the Prosecutor’s Office such as “ensure strict compliance with the Magna Carta”.

Direct threat of power, according to Yunior García

The playwright Yunior García Aguilera, founder of the activist group Archipiélago and one of the promoters of the November march, considered “a direct threat from power”The decision of the Prosecutor’s Office.

“If the threats materialize, take me to trial or arrest me, I renounce any type of defense”Proclaimed the young man, arrested for participating in the massive anti-government protests on July 11 and on whom a precautionary measure weighs.

García also denounced that a possible trial against him would be a “farce“Because its”sentence is probably signed from today”.

“I will keep silent if that judgment is made”, Declared the young man, lamenting that there is not a single institution in the country“that he side with us, with citizens who are neither mercenaries nor receive orders from anywhere ”.

Peaceful march in the face of differences

“We openly show a difference of opinion and of the country that we want to build and participate in politics in a civic and peaceful way”Assured García, the most visible face of the Archipiélago virtual platform.

That citizen initiative requested permission to carry out a “Peaceful march for change”On November 20, a date that he later brought forward to 15 after the Government called military exercises on the same day.

The organizers called the march to demand respect for rights, the release of political prisoners and the solution of differences through democratic and peaceful means. They demand the exercise of the rights of assembly, demonstration and association for lawful and peaceful purposes established in the Constitution.

However, the authorities interpret that a constitutional right “It cannot be exercised against the other rights, guarantees and essential postulates of the Constitution itself, which determines the illegal nature of the march”.

In this regard, García Aguilera reiterated that he maintains his right, “and that of all Cubans to demonstrate peacefully and civically”.

The Cuban scene

The march has been called in a difficult scenario in Cuba, which is going through a severe economic crisis reflected in long lines to buy food and basic products and frequent blackouts, to which is added an inflationary escalation with the consequent increase in prices.

The communist regime, which has destroyed the Cuban economy and productive apparatus after more than 60 years in power, attributes these problems to the financial and trade embargo of the United States, hardened in the last administration of Donald Trump.

He has linked promoters with “counterrevolutionary leaders“From institutions and congressmen from the neighboring country seeking a”regime change” and one “Military intervention”.

In Cuba, the rights to strike and demonstration are rarely contemplated outside state institutions and an act opposing the Government has never been authorized.

On July 11, thousands of people spontaneously took to the streets in the largest anti-government protests in six decades in Cuba, which resulted in hundreds of arrests (more than a thousand, according to activists) and prison sentences.

The regime’s response was criticized by international organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as the European Union (EU) and the United States, considering that there were arbitrary arrests and criminal proceedings without adequate legal guarantees for the detainees, among others. irregularities.