Cuban artists have been on the frontlines for months

Dear Friend,

In the last several months, the campaign of persecution and harassment against artists in Cuba has reached terrifying new levels. On July 11, after historic mass protests broke out across the country, police and security forces carried out arbitrary arrests and physical attacks against peaceful protesters, detaining more than 1,120 artists and creatives. At least 50 artists have been under house arrest, imprisoned, or subject to criminal investigation in recent months.

Artists have been on the frontlines of the protest movement in Cuba for months, using their platforms to draw national and international attention to social and political inequities on the island. Now, over 300 prominent figures from the arts are calling on the Cuban government to immediately stop its abuses against Cuban artists in a powerful statement co-signed by PEN International, the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) at PEN America, and Human Rights Watch. Signatories include Meryl Streep, Orhan Pamuk, Paul Auster, Elena Poniatowska, Isabel Allende, Zadie Smith, J. M. Coetzee, Jules Feiffer, and Khaled Hosseini, as well as notable Cuban artists, including Tania Bruguera, Coco Fusco, and Hamlet Lavastida.

READ THE LETTER NOW

Independent Cuban artists have become a leading voice in criticizing the lack of basic freedoms and human rights in Cuba. The artists, including rappers, writers, actors, and painters who have spearheaded the “San Isidro,” “27N,” and “Archipiélago” movements, have organized mass demonstrations and used increased access to the internet to draw global attention to the rampant abuses under the Cuban regime. Several artists—including Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo—remain in high-security prisons indefinitely on bogus charges. Many others remain subject to arbitrary prosecutions or are forced to stay in exile, unable to return to their home country or show their art in Cuba.

"The level of injustice and repression the Cuban government is imposing on its own people is reaching ever higher levels. The government not only exercises constant censorship over the artists, but in its actions to prevent and criminalize peaceful protest and dissent, now it has made the entire people of Cuba enemy of the state. As an artist and as a Cuban, I am very scared for the future of my country,”
—Tania Bruguera, performance artist

“As a journalist and writer, I believe in denouncing and opposing governments. I believe that if an intellectual, writer or artist stands up against a government, he or she is doing an indispensable task. It is not surprising that some want to silence us when we bear witness to the voices, beliefs, and experiences of those who would otherwise go unheard. They are afraid of the truth because, once it is revealed, it can no longer be hidden. We, artists from around the world, stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Cuba.”
—Elena Poniatowska, writer

Our letter calls on the Cuban regime to respect the fundamental role that art and artists play in society, and immediately stop harassing artists for engaging in political and social critiques of the regime while exercising their right to creative expression.

We hope you will read the letter, share our message of solidarity with your networks, and join us in fighting for a world where Cuban artists can live and create without fear.

In solidarity,

Julie Trebault
Director, Artists at Risk Connection (ARC)
PEN America

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