Join the campaign for Christmas without political prisoners in Cuba

 #ChristmasWithoutPoliticalPrisoners

A group of intellectuals, artists, former diplomats, religious leaders, and human rights defenders from around the world made an appeal during this holiday season that Catholic bishops "issue statements backing their Cuban counterparts' call for the release of Cubans jailed for the events of July 2021 and before, and a rejection of violence by the regime," and that they "include the freedom of Cuba's political prisoners, justice for the victims of repression, and national reconciliation for Cuba in prayers said at Mass, during this Christmas."

There are hundreds of Cuban political prisoners, and over 90 have been subjected to political show trials over the past ten days. Ambassador Brian A. Nichols, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs on December 23rd tweeted that 90 + July 11th protesters across Cuba are being subjected to unjust legal proceedings and prison sentences of up to 25 years under atrocious prison conditions to terrorize Cubans and silence and intimidate peaceful demonstrators.

They are still ongoing, and those jailed are enduring terrible circumstances.

Since Dec 13, the Cuban regime tried 90+#11Jprotestors across#Cuba. The world sees the magnitude of these injustices: sentences of up to 25 years, fraudulent charges to silence, & atrocious prison conditions for peaceful demonstrators. pic.twitter.com/RIPIQQns5U

— Brian A. Nichols (@WHAAsstSecty) December 23, 2021

Prisoners of conscience such as Maykel Castillo Pérez, Franco Benítez, Esteban Rodríguez, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Yandier García Labrada, José Daniel Ferrer García, Felix Navarro Rodriguez, Virgilio Mantilla Arango, Roberto Pérez Fonseca, Eloy Bárbaro Cardoso Pedroso, are in a precarious condition in facilities where COVID-19, Hepatitis, and other diseases run rampant with zero outside oversight. 

Now is the time to demonstrate our solidarity with those unjustly imprisoned for their political convictions. The late Vaclav Havel in an interview with Amnesty International in 2011 understood the need for people of good will to take action: "It's up to all of us to try, and those that say that individuals are not capable of changing anything are only looking for excuses."

Solidarity has been described as an act of resistance, but it is also an act of hope. Let us take action together and demand a general amnesty for all political prisoners, and in light of the present crises in Cuba let us pay special attention to what is going on in this island nation.

Please share information on ongoing political show trials, and messages from family members calling for their loved ones freedom.

The human rights organization CubaLex is asking that this artwork for Christmas be shared over social media with the hashtag in Spanish of #NavidadSinPresosPoliticos which translates into English as #ChristmasWithoutPoliticalPrisoners.

This is a time of unity, solidarity and generosity. Please share the following hashtags along with this campaign for a general amnesty for political prisoners and specific and documented information on the political captives of this regime.

1. Please  ask your pastor, rabbi, or priest to pray for the freedom of political prisoners during their religious services during this holiday season.

2. Please write letters to religious leaders in your community to request that the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua free their political prisoners.

3. Please use the following hashtags to spread this message.

#LiberenLosYa
#FreeThemNow
#FreedomForPoliticalPrisoners
#LibertadParaLosPresosPoliticos
#NavidadSinPresosPolíticos
#NavidadSinPresos
#ChristmasWithoutPoliticalPrisoners

Join the campaign for Christmas without political prisoners in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua

Campaign for general amnesty for political prisoners in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

More than a dozen human rights and pro-democracy organizations from Latin America, Europe and the United States have made a request during this holiday season that bishops, priests, pastors, rabbis, and men and women of good will to engage in all possible efforts with the authorities to obtain the amnesty of all political prisoners in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

Now is the time to demonstrate our solidarity with those unjustly imprisoned for their political convictions. The late Vaclav Havel in an interview with Amnesty International in 2011 understood the need for people of good will to take action: "It's up to all of us to try, and those that say that individuals are not capable of changing anything are only looking for excuses."

Uruguayan campaign for freedom of political prisoners in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua

In addition to the dozen human rights and pro-democracy groups mentioned above, the Urguayan Network for Democracy in Cuba has also launched a campaign titled "Christmas without political prisoners in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua."

Navidad sin presos políticos en #Cuba, #Venezuela y #Nicaragua.
#NavidadSinPresosPolíticosEnCubaVenezuelaYNicaragua. pic.twitter.com/pLRMDkE5qm

— Antonio Romero Piriz (@RomeroPiriz) December 23, 2018

Partial lists provided by internal human rights groups indicate that there are at least 120 political prisoners in Cuba, 576 political prisoners in Nicaragua, and 288 political prisoners in Venezuela spending the holiday season behind bars.

.@silviojbaez "God is on the side of the victims, never on the side of the oppressors... The best Christmas would be to see the political prisoners freed." (23 Dec 18) https://t.co/fEWD9qt0UH

— Carmelite Quotes (@carmelitequotes) December 23, 2018

New political prisoners are being unjustly imprisoned in these countries in conditions that constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Between the months of November and December 15 members of a workers movement in Venezuela were jailed for their activism.

Jose Alberto Marulanda is a Venezuelan political prisoner

Medical professionals, like their counterparts in Cuba, are also subjected to politically motivated arbitrary imprisonment. Venezuelan medical surgeon José Alberto Marulanda has been imprisoned since May 19, 2018 in Ramo Verde prison.

 Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco is a new Cuban political prisoner

On December 18, 2018 in Cuba Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco, a leader in the Orlando Zapata Civic Action Front was sentenced to a year in prison for "pre-criminal dangerousness."This is an Orwellian charge reminiscent of thought crime or Philip K. Dick's pre-crime, and is totalitarian.

#19Dic 15 obreros los nuevos presos políticos de la dictadura de Maduro. #Venezuela https://t.co/lEnRw4peTj pic.twitter.com/t02vxuCVYS

— PROVEA (@_Provea) December 19, 2018

In Nicaragua, student activists are facing prison sentences in excess of 30 years, torture, and rape. Amaya Coppens, reported on in this blog back in September of 2018, remains in prison and faces a political show trial with a Sandinista judge in February of 2019. She was just 23 years old at the time of her arrest.

Amaya Coppens is a Nicaraguan political prisoner

 Solidarity has been described as an act of resistance, but it is also an act of hope. Let us take action together and demand a general amnesty for all political prisoners, and in light of the present crises in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua let us pay special attention to what is going on in these three countries.

This is a time of unity, solidarity and generosity. Please share the following hashtags along with this campaign for a general amnesty for political prisoners and specific and documented information on the political captives of these three regimes.

1. Please  ask your pastor, rabbi, or priest to pray for the freedom of political prisoners during their religious services during this holiday season.

2. Please write letters to religious leaders in your community to request that the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua free their political prisoners.

3. Please use the following hashtags to spread this message.

#LiberenLosYa
#FreeThemNow
#FreedomForPoliticalPrisoners
#LibertadParaLosPresosPoliticos
#CubaNicaraguaVenezuela
#NavidadSinPresosPolíticosEnCubaVenezuelaYNicaragua. #ChristmasWithoutPoliticalPrisonersInCubaVenezuelaAndNicaragua