Cuban artists' historic protest opens dialogue with govt

Cuban independent artists and activists reached what they called a "historic" agreement with the island's authorities on Friday night, to start a series of meetings to address their differences.

The agreement was reached a day after authorities cleared more than a dozen artists and activists from a home they have used as a center for anti-government protests that have gained unusually wide attention.

Police and health authorities raided the house in Old Havana on Thursday night, removing the protesters and taking at least most to their homes.

The group known as the San Isidro Movement, which periodically stages performance art and music events, has repeatedly criticized the Communist government and is demanding the release of a musician member recently convicted of insulting a police officer.

On Friday night, a group of activists and artists, among them Cuban actor Jorge Perugorría and film director Fernando Pérez, gathered outside the Ministry of Culture to urge the government to negotiate with them.

Tania Bruguera, Cuban performance artist said the ministry will hold talks with groups of artists and government representatives to address the remaining issues.

"We will bring the two agendas together to see if we can reach a consensus between the world of independent art in Cuba and the world of government institutions in Cuba," she said after the talks with officials.

Almost 300 Cuban intellectuals and artists had issued a statement earlier, urging the government to engage in dialogue with them.

Oficials said the gathering on Thursday night violated COVID-19 safety protocols, alleging that one of those inside was a Mexico resident who had recently returned from the United States and should have been quarantined. They also said he had given a different address when arriving in Cuba.

The activists called it an attempt to quash a protest, which they said included a hunger strike, that had drawn international attention to the debate about freedom of expression in Cuba.

Amnesty International has condemned what it said was harassment and intimidation of protesters supporting Solís, whom the organization said was apparently detained Nov. 9 and sentenced two days later for “contempt ... a crime inconsistent with international human rights law.”

“Authorities can continue to harass, intimidate, detain, and criminalize artists and alternative thinkers, but they can’t keep their minds in prison,” Amnesty said in a recent statement.

In days before the raid, the group of artists expressed “growing alarm” at the standoff with the activists and urged the Ministry of Culture to have a dialogue with the strikers.