Cuban dissident and artist Maykel Castillo Pérez, "El Osorbo" beaten up while attack was recorded by secret police

"I won again. They beat me and I crossed my arms, I didn't answer you [with violence]. I will continue to tell truths " " - Maykel Castillo "Osorbo", April 12, 2021

On April 12, 2021 two individuals attacked Maykel Castillo and secret police recorded it

On April 9, 2021 Reuters published a profile on Cuban dissidents that highlighted Cuban rapper Maykel Castillo, a member of the San Isidro Movement, and an artist who sang and appeared in the video Patria y Vida that has been a viral sensation in Cuba. Yesterday, Maykel was assaulted in Havana by strangers as state security agents filmed the assault. They were probably recording to see if he hit back to defend himself, and use that as a basis for prosecution, but he took the blows, and remained nonviolent. Maykel Castillo also known as "Osorbo" denounced the incident on a live broadcast through Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara's social networks: "Something happened today, which probably should have happened many days ago." “I knew that something like this could happen to me; you broke my nose."

Over the past three years he has fought against censorship and the dystopian Decree 349, that further restricts artistic freedom in Cuba. He has paid for his defiance with threats, beatings, and prison. This blog has periodically given updates on his plight.

Maykel Castillo Pérez, "El Osorbo"

In September of 2018 Cuban rapper Maykel Castillo Pérez, "El Osorbo" protested against Decree 349/2018 during a show. This is a new law that further outlaws independent art in Cuba. Three days after the concert, he was detained by the Cuban secret police. On November 15th Maykel sewed his mouth shut and began a hunger strike demanding to be freed. An official told him that they would meet his demand, and he ended the strike. But as the days turned into weeks, and the imprisonment continued, the Cuban artist on December 4th re-started the hunger strike. The Cuban Rapper completed a prison sentence of one year one month for protesting Decree 349.

Maykel Castillo Pérez, "El Osorbo"

 

This was not the first time that he had been the victim of a politically motivated prosecution. On January 28, 2015, Maykel Castillo Pérez was sentenced to a year in prison in Havana. He was targeted for having used music to express his dissenting political opinions. He was charged with ‘peligrosidad predelictiva’ (‘pre-crime dangerousness’), which is used to imprison Cubans for what they  may potentially do in the future due to their associations and/or views.. 

 

His defense attorney told a reporter from Diario de Cuba that prosecutors wanted the judge to sentence him to five years. He once described his musical style as that of someone who “doesn’t make concessions with a system full of liars.” 

 

Being locked up for what one may potentially do in the future, as was done to Maykel, is a widely applied charge by the Castro dictatorship.

 

According to a January 13, 2020 report in The New York Times a former high-ranking judge in Cuba provided documents which "showed that approximately 92 percent of those accused in the more than 32,000 cases that go to trial in Cuba every year are found guilty. Nearly 4,000 people every year are accused of being “antisocial” or “dangerous,” terms the Cuban government uses to jail people who pose a risk to the status quo, without having committed a crime." Furthermore, the article says that "records show that Cuba’s prison system holds more than 90,000 prisoners. 

Yesterday, following the attack Maykel declared, "I'm a tough black," he said. "Not even a thousand beatings are going to make me cross my arms and close my mouth," he warned. He underscored the danger facing him, and the possible escalation of violence by the dictatorship, and his commitment to nonviolence. “If you break a bone, it stays broken. If I die for that, the fault will be yours, because you are a murderer, " he said, addressing the government.  

 The attack on April 12, 2021 was an outrage, and we will continue to monitor the situation on the island, and report on acts of violence and repression.

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