Opposition to Fidel Castro - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Cuban dissident movement is a political movement

Political movement

A political movement is a social movement in the area of politics. A political movement may be organized around a single issue or set of issues, or around a set of shared concerns of a social group...

in Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

whose aim is "to replace the current regime with a more democratic form of government". According to Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...

, the Cuban government represses nearly all forms of political dissent

Political dissent

Political dissent refers to any expression designed to convey dissatisfaction with or opposition to the policies of a governing body. Such expression may take forms from vocal disagreement to civil disobedience to the use of violence. Historically, repressive governments have sought to punish...

1959- the Cuban Revolution

Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...

came to power with the Cuban revolution

Cuban Revolution

The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...

of 1959. By the end of 1960, according to Paul H. Lewis

Paul H. Lewis

Paul H. Lewis is Professor of Political Science at Tulane University. Among his publications are: Guerrillas and Generals: The "Dirty War" in Argentina, The Agony of Argentine Capitalism: From Menem to the Kirchners, The Crisis of Argentine Capitalism and Authoritarian Regimes in Latin America:...

in Authoritarian Regimes in Latin America, all opposition newspaper had been closed down and all radio and television stations were in state control. Lewis states that moderate teachers and professors were purged, about 20,000 dissident

Dissident

A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....

s were held and tortured in prisons.

Homosexuals as well as other "deviant" groups who were barred from military conscription, were forced to conduct their compulsory military service in camps called "Military Units to Aid Production

Military Units to Aid Production

Military Units to Aid Production or UMAP’s were allegedly established by the Cuban government in 1965 as a way to eliminate "bourgeois" and "counter-revolutionary" values in the Cuban population, in particular, among those who neglected taking part in the military service or who had been rejected...

" in the 1960s and were subjected to political "re-education". Castro's military commanders brutalized the inmates.

One estimate from The Black Book of Communism

The Black Book of Communism

The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression is a book authored by several European academics and edited by Stéphane Courtois, which describes a history of repressions, both political and civilian, by Communist states, including genocides, extrajudicial executions, deportations, and...

is that throughout Cuba 15,000-17,000 people were executed. Meanwhile, in nearly all areas of government, loyalty to the regime became the primary criterion for all appointments.

Government authority

The media is operated under the Cuban Communist Party’s Department of Revolutionary Orientation
Department of Revolutionary Orientation
Department of Revolutionary Orientation is a division of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. ....

, which "develops and coordinates propaganda strategies".
A Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...

1999 report on Cuba notes that Cuba has penalties for anyone who "threatens, libels or slanders, defames, affronts (injuria) or in any other way insults (ultraje) or offends, with the spoken word or in writing, the dignity or decorum of an authority, public functionary, or his agents or auxiliaries". There are even harsher penalties for those who show contempt for the President of the Council of the State, the President of the National Assembly of Popular Power, the members of the Council of the State or the Council of Ministers, or the Deputies of the National Assembly of the Popular Power.
There is a three-month to one-year sentence for anyone who "publicly defames, denigrates, or scorns the Republic's institutions, the political, mass, or social organizations of the country, or the heroes or martyrs of the nation". This appears designed solely to preserve the current government's power.
Cubans are not allowed to produce, distribute or store publications without telling to authorities.
Social dangerousness
Social dangerousness
Social dangerousness or Pre-criminal danger to society is a legal charge under Cuban law which allows the authorities to detain people whom they think they are likely to commit crimes. The charge carries a penalty of up to four years in prison...

, defined as violations of socialist morality, can warrant "pre-criminal measures" and "therapeutic measures".
Regarding institutions, the Human Rights Watch report notes that the Interior Ministry has principal responsibility for monitoring the Cuban population for signs of dissent
Dissent
Dissent is a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or an entity...

.
In 1991 two new mechanisms for internal surveillance and control emerged. Communist Party leaders organized the Singular Systems of Vigilance and Protection (Sistema Unico de Vigilancia y Protección, SUVP). Rapid Action Brigades (Brigadas de Acción Rapida, also referred to as Rapid Response Brigades, or Brigadas de Respuesta Rápida) observe and control dissidents. The regime also "maintains academic and labor files (expedientes escolares y laborales) for each citizen, in which officials record actions or statements that may bear on the person's loyalty to the regime. Before advancing to a new school or position, the individual's record must first be deemed acceptable".

1989: Communism ends in Europe, but not in Cuba

While the communist governments in Europe fell, Cuba continued communism.

Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...

, who had unsuccessfully tried to replace hardline communists in Eastern Europe with reformers, might have supported Arnaldo Ochoa

Arnaldo Ochoa

Arnaldo T. Ochoa Sánchez was a prominent Cuban general who was executed after being found guilty of treason.-Career:Ochoa was born from an old Oriente area family of farmers...

, a general who was executed on charges of drug trafficking. Cuba banned Soviet publications Sputnik

Sputnik (magazine)

Sputnik was a Soviet magazine published from 1967 until 1991 by the Soviet press agency Novosti in several languages, targeted at both Eastern Bloc countries and Western nations. It was intended to be a Soviet equivalent to the Reader's Digest, publishing news stories excerpted from the Soviet...

and Moscow News

Moscow News

The Moscow News, which began publication in 1930, is Russia’s oldest English-language publication newspaper. Many of its feature articles used to be translated from the now defunct Russian Moskovskiye Novosti.-History:...

in August 1989 because they were accused of "justifying bourgeois democracy".

In 1991 Castro stated that Cuba should "forget [the] world's criteria" for democracy. Castro alleged that Western "bourgeois democracy" has nothing to do with democracy and is "complete garbage".

Thousands of Cubans protested in Havana and chanted "Libertad!" ("Freedom") during the Maleconazo uprising on August 5, 1994. The uprising lasted a few hours before it was dispersed by the government's security forces, and an intervention by Fidel Castro himself. A paper published in the Journal of Democracy states that this was the closest that the Cuban opposition could come to asserting itself decisively.

Cuban dissidents formed the Concilio Cubano

Concilio Cubano

Concilio Cubano was a Cuban dissident group which pushed for a peaceful transition to democracy. It was founded in October 1995.The Cuban government cracked down on Concilio Cubano in February 1996....

in late 1995. The Concilio planned to hold a meeting on February 24, 1996, a plan which was blocked by the government. The government arrested many of the leading activists and labeled them as "counterrevolutionary grouplets".

The Varela Project

Varela Project

The Varela Project is a project that was started in 1998 by Oswaldo Payá of the Christian Liberation Movement and named after Felix Varela, a Cuban religious leader...

started in 1998.

Situation today

In 2010, Cuba was deemed the only "authoritarian regime" in the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

by The Economist

The Economist

The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

s 2010 Democracy Index

Democracy Index

The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit that claims to measure the state of democracy in 167 countries, of which 166 are sovereign states and 165 are UN member states...

. The island was the second largest prison in the world for journalists in 2008, second only to the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists

Committee to Protect Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...

(CPJ), an international press organization.
The military of Cuba

Military of Cuba

The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces consist of ground forces, naval forces, air and air defence forces, and other paramilitary bodies including the Territorial Troops Militia , Revolutionary Armed Forces , and Youth Labor Army .The armed forces has long been the...

is a central organization; it controls 60 percent of the economy and is Raúl Castro

Raúl Castro

Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician and revolutionary who has been President of the Council of State of Cuba and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba since 2008; he previously exercised presidential powers in an acting capacity from 2006 to 2008...

's base.

According to a paper published in the Harvard International Review

Harvard International Review

The Harvard International Review is a quarterly journal of international relations published by the Harvard International Relations Council...

, dissident groups are weak and infiltrated by Cuban state security. Media is totally state-controlled. Dissidents find it difficult to organize and "Many of their leaders have shown enormous courage in defying the regime. Yet, time and again, the security apparatus has discredited or destroyed them. They do not represent a major threat to the regime."

The paper Can Cuba Change? in the National Endowment for Democracy

National Endowment for Democracy

The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983 to promote US-friendly democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress...

' Journal of Democracy

Journal of Democracy

The Journal of Democracy is a quarterly academic journal established in 1990 and an official publication of the National Endowment for Democracy...

states that about nine-tenths of the populace forms an economically and politically oppressed underclass

Underclass

The term underclass refers to a segment of the population that occupies the lowest possible position in a class hierarchy, below the core body of the working class. The general idea that a class system includes a population under the working class has a long tradition in the social sciences...

and "Using the principles of democracy and human rights to unite and mobilize this vast, dispossessed majority in the face of a highly repressive regime is the key to peaceful change". Working people are a critical source of discontent. The only legal trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

is controlled by the government and strikes are banned. Afro-Cuban

Afro-Cuban

The term Afro-Cuban refers to Cubans of Sub Saharan African ancestry, and to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community...

dissidents have also risen, fueled by racism in Cuba

Racism in Cuba

Racism in Cuba refers to racial discrimination against Afro-Cuban or mulatto communities.-Background:The Cuban census reports that 65% of the population is white while foreign figures report an estimate of the number of whites at anywhere from 20 to 35 percent...

Dissident groups

There are a number of opposition parties and groups that campaign for political change in Cuba. Though amendments to the Cuban Constitution
Constitution of Cuba
Since attaining its independence from Spain, Cuba has had five constitutions. The current constitution was drafted in 1976 and has since been amended.-1901 Constitution:The 1901 Constitution was Cuba's first as an independent state...

of 1992 decriminalized the right to form political parties other than the Communist Party of Cuba
Communist Party of Cuba
The Communist Party of Cuba is the governing political party in Cuba. It is a communist party of the Marxist-Leninist model. The Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the Party to be the "leading force of society and of the state"...

, these parties are not permitted to engage in public political activities on the island.

Varela Project
Varela Project
The Varela Project is a project that was started in 1998 by Oswaldo Payá of the Christian Liberation Movement and named after Felix Varela, a Cuban religious leader...

, led by Oswaldo Payá
Oswaldo Payá
Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas is a political activist in Cuba and is considered that country's most prominent political dissident. He received the Sakharov Prize in 2002...

. The organization reported having collected more than 10,000 signatures for a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

requesting freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...

, freedom to form political parties, and freedom to create private business
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

. According to Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

their methods were non-violent, and their philosophy was democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

. The government responded with its own petition drive to make the socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

system "untouchable", for which the government claimed 99% voter approval. Fidel Castro said that, "The revolutionary process of socialism cannot be reversed" and "Cuba will never return to capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...

".
Yo No Coopero Con La Dictadura
Yo No Coopero Con La Dictadura
' is a civil disobedience campaign by Cuban democracy activists.The campaign, utilizes the slogan "I do want change," and is articulated in six fundamental points: "I do not repudiate, I do not assist, I do not snitch, I do not follow, I do not cooperate, and I do not repress." Furthermore, as a...

is a civil resistance
Civil resistance
The term civil resistance, alongside the term nonviolent resistance, is used to describe political action that relies on the use of non-violent methods by civil groups to challenge a particular power, force, policy or regime. Civil resistance operates through appeals to the adversary, pressure and...

campaign.
Ladies in White
Ladies in White
Ladies in White is an opposition movement in Cuba consisting of wives and other female relatives of jailed dissidents. The women protest the imprisonments by attending Mass each Sunday wearing white dresses and then silently walking through the streets dressed in white clothing...

received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought
Sakharov Prize
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organisations who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought...

from the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

in 2005.
Christian Liberation Movement
Christian Liberation Movement
The Christian Liberation Movement is a Cuban dissident movement advocating political change in Cuba. The movement is led by Oswaldo Payá and was founded in 1988 by a group of secular Catholics belonging to the Parish of Cerro, in Havana...

--is a group of Catholics that was founded by Oswaldo Payá
Oswaldo Payá
Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas is a political activist in Cuba and is considered that country's most prominent political dissident. He received the Sakharov Prize in 2002...
Lawton Foundation
Lawton Foundation
The Lawton Foundation was founded in 1997 in Havana, Cuba, as a non-governmental organization to promote the "study, defense and denunciation of human rights inside Cuba". The group was formed by Christian pro-life activist Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet González and is made up of adult Cuban citizens of...

- An organization to promote the "study, defense and denunciation of human rights inside Cuba". The group was formed by Oscar Elías Biscet
Oscar Elías Biscet
Óscar Elías Biscet González , is a Cuban medical professional and a noted advocate for human rights and democratic freedoms in Cuba. He is also the founder of the Lawton Foundation....

.
The Assembly to Promote Civil Society--An organization headed by Marta Beatriz Roque
Marta Beatriz Roque
Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello is a prominent Cuban political dissident. She is an economist by training, and the founder as well as director of the Cuban Institute of Independent Economists-Politics Activities:Ms...

that coordinates the efforts of numerous other opposition groups
Opposition (politics)
In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government , party or group in political control of a city, region, state or country...

.
Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights
Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights
Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights is a human rights movement in Cuba. It is named after Rosa Parks. The movement is headed by Iris Tamara Pérez Aguilera, the wife of human rights and democracy advocate Jorge Luis García Pérez.-Demands:...

Dissidents

During the "Black Spring" in 2003

Black Spring (Cuba)

Black Spring refers to the 2003 crackdown on Cuban dissidents. The government imprisoned 75 dissidents, that included 29 journalists, as well as librarians, human rights activists, and democracy activists, on the basis that they were acting as agents of the United States by accepting aid from...

, the regime imprisoned 75 dissidents, including 29 journalists. Their cases were reviewed by Amnesty International who officially adopted them as prisoners of conscience

Prisoner of conscience

Prisoner of conscience is a term defined in Peter Benenson's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views...

Nelson Aguiar Ramírez
Nelson Aguiar Ramírez
Nelson Aguiar Ramírez is a Cuban dissident. He was arrested and sentenced to 13 years in jail during the Black Spring in 2003. Amnesty International has declared him as a prisoner of conscience. He is president of the unofficial Partido Ortodoxo de Cuba .He is an electrician by trade.-External...

13 years
Osvaldo Alfonso Valdés 18 years
Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos 25 years
Pedro Argüelles Morán
Pedro Argüelles Morán
Pedro Argüelles Morán is a Cuban cartographer and journalist who was arrested during the "Black Spring" in 2003 and sentenced to 20 years in prison....

20 years
Víctor Rolando Arroyo Carmona
Víctor Rolando Arroyo Carmona
Víctor Rolando Arroyo Carmona is a Cuban geographer and journalist who was imprisoned on March 18, 2003 and sentenced to 26 years in prison, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists...

26 years
Mijail Barzaga Lugo 15 years
Oscar Elías Biscet González 25 years
Margarito Broche Espinosa 25 years
Marcelo Cano Rodríguez
Marcelo Cano Rodríguez
Marcelo Cano Rodríguez is a Cuban physician and a member of the Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional ....

18 years
Roberto de Miranda Hernández 20 years
Carmelo Díaz Fernández
Carmelo Díaz Fernández
Carmelo Díaz Fernández is a Cuban journalist. He is editor of the Cuban Independent Trade Union Press Agency , an executive board member of the Unitary Council of Cuban workers and president of the banned Christian Trade Union....

15 years
Eduardo Díaz Fleitas 21 years
Antonio Díaz Sánchez
Antonio Díaz Sánchez
Antonio Ramon Díaz Sánchez is a Cuban dissident. He participated in the gathering of signatures for the Varela project and was a member of the Christian Liberation Movement....

20 years
Alfredo Domínguez Batista
Alfredo Domínguez Batista
Alfredo Domínguez Batista is a Cuban dissident. Amnesty International has declared him as a prisoner of conscience.He is a member of the Christian Liberation Movement and has been involved in the Varela project. He was arrested during the Black Spring in 2003 and sentenced to 14 years in...

14 years
Oscar Espinosa Chepe
Oscar Espinosa Chepe
Óscar Manuel Espinosa Chepe is a Cuban economist and dissident. He was one of approximately 75 dissidents arrested, tried and convicted in 2003 as part of what has been widely described as a massive crackdown by the Cuban government. Amnesty International declared him as a prisoner of conscience...

20 years
Alfredo Felipe Fuentes
Alfredo Felipe Fuentes
Alfredo Felipe Fuentes is a Cuban journalist.He was independent journalist, a member of an illegal trade union , and an activist in the Varela project....

26 years
Efrén Fernández Fernández 12 years
Adolfo Fernández Sainz
Adolfo Fernández Sainz
Juan Adolfo Fernández Saínz is a Cuban journalist. Before his imprisonment, he was an independent journalist with the Patria news agency. Adolfo Fernández Sainz also contributed to foreign publications, particularly in Sweden...

15 years
José Daniel Ferrer García 25 years
Luis Enrique Ferrer García
Luis Enrique Ferrer García
Luis Enrique Ferrer García is a Cuban dissident. He is married and has a daughter.He was arrested during the Black Spring in 2003 and received a 28-year sentence for his work with the Varela project, a civic initiative calling for democratic reforms in Cuba....

28 years
Orlando Fundora Alvarez 18 years
Próspero Gaínza Agüero 25 years
Miguel Galván Gutiérrez 26 years
Julio César Gálvez Rodríguez 15 years
Edel José García Díaz 15 years
José Luis García Paneque 24 years
Ricardo Gonzales Alfonso 20 years
Diosdado González Marrero
Diosdado González Marrero
Diosdado González Marrero is a Cuban dissident.He was a member of the Peace, Democracy and Liberty Party. He was imprisoned during the Black Spring crackdown on dissidents in 2003....

20 years
Léster González Pentón 20 years
Alejandro González Raga
Alejandro González Raga
Alejandro González Raga is a Cuban journalist. He was jailed from 2003 until released to exile in Spain in 2008. Amnesty International recognized him as a prisoner of conscience.-External links:* -References:...

14 years
Jorge Luis González Tanquero
Jorge Luis González Tanquero
Jorge Luis González Tanquero is a Cuban dissident. He has been declared as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.When his family exiled to the United States, the President of the United States noted "They recently arrived from Cuba, but without Melissa's father. Jorge Luis Gonzalez...

20 years
Leonel Grave de Peralta Almenares 20 years
Iván Hernández Carrillo 25 years
Normando Hernández González 25 years
Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta 20 years
Regis Iglesias Ramírez 18 years
José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernandez 16 years
Reinaldo Labrada Peña 6 years
Librado Linares García 20 years
Marcelo López Bañobre 15 years
José Miguel Martínez Hernández
José Miguel Martínez Hernández
José Miguel Martínez Hernández is Cuban dissident. He was a representative of Movimiento 24 de Febrero and was involved in Varela project. He was a librarian at General Juan Bruno Zayas Library....

13 years
Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez
Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez
Héctor Fernando Maseda Gutiérrez is a Cuban nuclear engineer and a journalist.The Fidel Castro regime arrested him during the 2003 "Black Spring" and sentenced him to 20 years in jail. He was released in February, 2011. In 2008, he won an International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to...

20 years
Mario Enrique Mayo Hernández 20 years
Luis Milán Fernández
Luis Milán Fernández
Luis Milán Fernández is a Cuban physician. Amnesty International has recognized him as prisoner of conscience.-References:...

13 years
Nelson Moliné Espino
Nelson Moliné Espino
Nelson Moliné Espino is a Cuban dissident, who has been declared as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.He president of the unofficial Confederación de Trabajadores Democráticos de Cuba , and a member of the unofficial Partido 30 de noviembre...

20 years
Angel Moya Acosta
Angel Moya Acosta
Angel Moya Acosta is a Cuban construction worker and the founder of the Independent Alternative Option Movement. It demonstrated support for Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet.He was imprisoned during the Black Spring in 2003, and sentenced to 20 years in jail....

20 years
Jesús Mustafá Felipe 25 years
Felix Navarro Rodríguez 25 years
Jorge Olivera Castillo 18 years
Pablo Pacheco Avila
Pablo Pacheco Avila
Pablo Pacheco Avila is a Cuban journalist who has contributed to the Ciego de Ávila Independent Journalists Cooperative . He has been a political prisoner in Cuba since 2003.-Political Prisoner:...

20 years
Héctor Palacios Ruíz 25 years
Arturo Pérez de Alejo Rodríguez
Arturo Pérez de Alejo Rodríguez
Arturo Pérez de Alejo Rodríguez is a Cuban dissident and has been declared as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.He was president of the human rights organization Frente Escambray and activist supporter of the Varela project...

20 years
Omar Pernet Hernández
Omar Pernet Hernández
Omar Pernet Hernández is a Cuban librarian, human rights activist, and a former political prisoner.He was imprisoned during the Black Spring in 2003 and released to exile in Spain in 2008.-External links:*...

25 years
Horacio Piña Borrego 20 years
Fabio Prieto Llorente 20 years
Alfredo Pulido López 14 years
José Gabriel Ramón Castillo 20 years
Arnaldo Ramos Lauzerique
Arnaldo Ramos Lauzerique
Arnaldo Ramos Lauzurique is a Cuban independent economist. Ramos Lauzerique and Marta Beatriz Roque founded the Instituto de Economía. The group of economists has exposed how the communist government uses false statistics when reporting to the people and to international organizations.He was...

18 years
Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez
Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez
Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez is a Cuban librarian and a member of Varela project. He was imprisoned in 2003 during a crackdown on dissidents and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Amnesty International has declared him as a prisoner of conscience.His wife, Isel Acosta, is a member of Ladies in White...

25 years
Raúl Rivero Castañeda 20 years
Alexis Rodríguez Fernández 15 years
Omar Rodríguez Saludes
Omar Rodríguez Saludes
Omar Rodriguez Saludes is a well known Cuban dissent journalist. He was sentenced to 27 years in jail.According to his wife, his cell conditions are very bad. There is no light in his cell and he has to suffer from mosquitoes.-References:...

27 years
Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello 20 years
Omar Moisés Ruiz Hernández 18 years
Claro Sánchez Altarriba 18 years
Ariel Sigler Amaya 20 years
Guido Sigler Amaya 20 years
Ricardo Enrique Silva Gual
Ricardo Enrique Silva
Ricardo Enrique Silva is a Cuban doctor and dissident. He was imprisoned during the Black Spring in 2003.Physicians for Human Rights reports that he has eye problems....

10 years
Fidel Suárez Cruz
Fidel Suárez Cruz
Fidel Suárez Cruz is a Cuban farmer from Pinar del Río.He became an independent librarian and a member of the pro-democracy Party for Human Rights in Cuba. He was arrested during the 2003 crackdown on dissidents and summarily sentenced to jail. Amnesty International recognized him as a prisoner of...

20 years
Manuel Ubals González 20 years
Julio Antonio Valdés Guevara 20 years
Miguel Valdés Tamayo 15 years
Héctor Raúl Valle Hernández 12 years
Manuel Vázquez Portal
Manuel Vázquez Portal
Manuel Vázquez Portal is an award-winning Cuban poet, writer and journalist.He won three official prizes between 1984 and 1993. In 1995, he was expelled by the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba because of his dissident views.He was incarcerated during the "Black Spring" in 2003...

18 years
Antonio Augusto Villareal Acosta
Antonio Augusto Villareal Acosta
Antonio Augusto Villarreal Acosta a Cuban economist, librarian, and Varela project coordinator. He published reports about problems of the transport facilities, the food supply and the housing shortage....

15 years

To the original list of 75 prisoners of conscience resulting from the wave of arrests in spring 2003, Amnesty International added four more dissidents in January 2004. They had been arrested in the same context as the other 75 but did not receive their sentences until much later.

Rolando Jiménez Posada 12 years
Rafael Millet Leyva (no sentence, released after 4 years without trial)
Miguel Sigler Amaya 26 months
Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Orlando Zapata Tamayo was a Cuban mason, plumber, and political activist and prisoner who died after fasting for more than 80 days.-Political affiliation:...

36 years

These prisoners have since been released in the face of international pressure. Tripartite talks between the Cuban government, the Catholic Church in Cuba and the Spanish government were initiated in spring 2010 in reaction to the controversial death of political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo in February 2010 following a hunger strike

Hunger strike

A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...

amid reports of massive abuse at the hands of prison staff. These negotiations resulted in a July 2010 agreement that all remaining prisoners of the 'Group of 75' would be freed. Spain offered to receive those prisoners who would agree to be released and immediately exiled together with their families. Of the 79 prisoners of conscience 56 were still behind bars at the time of the agreement. Of the total group, 21 are still living in Cuba today whereas the others are in exile, most of them in Spain. The final two prisoners were released on 23 March 2011.

Independent Bloggers

The Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P. Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel.Originally, the magazine was a quarterly...

magazine named Yoani Sánchez

Yoani Sánchez

Yoani Maria Sánchez Cordero is a Cuban blogger who has achieved international fame and multiple international awards for her critical portrayal of life in Cuba under its current government....

one of the 10 Most Influential Intellectuals of Latin America, the only woman on the list. An article in El Nuevo Herald by Ivette Leyva Martinez, speaks to the role played by Yoani Sanchez and other young people, outside the Cuban opposition and dissidence movements, in working towards a free and democractic Cuba today:
On March 29, 2009, Yoani Sánchez

Yoani Sánchez

Yoani Maria Sánchez Cordero is a Cuban blogger who has achieved international fame and multiple international awards for her critical portrayal of life in Cuba under its current government....

, at Tania Bruguera's performance where a podium with an open mic was staged for people to have one minute of uncensored public speech, Sánchez was among people to publicly criticize censorship and said that "the time has come to jump over the wall of control". The government condemned the event.

Yoani Sánchez is under permanent surveillance by Cuba's police force, which camps outside her home.

June 2010 letter to United States Congress

On Thursday, June 10, 2010 seventy-four of Cuba's dissidents signed a letter to the United States Congress in support of a bill that would lift the U.S. travel ban for Americans wishing to visit Cuba. The signers include blogger Yoani Sanchez and hunger striker Guillermo Farinas, as well as Elizardo Sanchez, head of Cuba's most prominent human rights group and Miriam Leiva, who helped found the Damas de Blanco, or Ladies in White, a group of wives and mothers of jailed dissidents. The letter supports a bill introduced on Feb. 23 by Rep. Collin Peterson, a Minnesota Democrat, that would bar the president from prohibiting travel to Cuba or blocking transactions required to make such trips. It also would bar the White House from stopping direct transfers between U.S. and Cuban banks. The signers stated that:

"We share the opinion that the isolation of the people of Cuba benefits the most inflexible interests of its government, while any opening serves to inform and empower the Cuban people and helps to further strengthen our civil society."

The Center for Democracy in the Americas, a Washington-based group supporting the bill, issued a press release stating that "74 of Cuba's most prominent political dissidents have endorsed the Peterson-Moran legislation to end the travel ban and expand food exports to Cuba because in their words it is good for human rights, good for alleviating hunger, and good for spreading information and showing solidarity with the Cuban people. Their letter answers every argument the pro-embargo forces use to oppose this legislation. This, itself, answers the question 'who is speaking for the Cuban people in this debate?' - those who want to send food and Americans to visit the island and stand with ordinary Cubans, or those who don't. If Cuba's best known bloggers, dissidents, hunger strikers, and other activists for human rights want this legislation enacted, what else needs be said?" The Center also hosts English as well as the Spanish version of the letter signed by the 74 dissidents.

Notable people

Manuel Vázquez Portal
Manuel Vázquez Portal
Manuel Vázquez Portal is an award-winning Cuban poet, writer and journalist.He won three official prizes between 1984 and 1993. In 1995, he was expelled by the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba because of his dissident views.He was incarcerated during the "Black Spring" in 2003...

, a poet, writer, and a journalist, received the 2003 International Press Freedom Award
International Press Freedom Award
International prizes for efforts to uphold the freedom of the press styled International Press Freedom Awards are awarded by two different bodies:*CPJ International Press Freedom Awards...

.
Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez
Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez
Héctor Fernando Maseda Gutiérrez is a Cuban nuclear engineer and a journalist.The Fidel Castro regime arrested him during the 2003 "Black Spring" and sentenced him to 20 years in jail. He was released in February, 2011. In 2008, he won an International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to...

, a jailed nuclear engineer and journalist, received the 2008 International Press Freedom Award
International Press Freedom Award
International prizes for efforts to uphold the freedom of the press styled International Press Freedom Awards are awarded by two different bodies:*CPJ International Press Freedom Awards...

.
Jorge Luis García Pérez
Jorge Luis García Pérez
Jorge Luis García Pérez is a human right and democracy activist in Cuba.Antúnez was jailed for 17 years from 1990 to 2007. Other dissidents have referred to Antúnez as Cuba's Nelson Mandela....

(known as Antúnez) was jailed for criticizing communism and spent 17 years in jail until released in 2007. As the longest-serving jailed black dissident when he we was released, he has been referred to as Cuba's Nelson Mandela.
Gorki Aguila
Gorki Águila
Gorki Águila is a Cuban punk rock musician and dissident, who has publicly criticized communism. He is the leader of the Porno para Ricardo band....
Jose Luis Llovio-Menendez, bureaucrat, defected in 1981.
Rafael del Pino Díaz, Brigadier General. Highest government official to have defected so far, in 1987

Hunger strikes

On April 3, 1972, Pedro Luis Boitel

Pedro Luis Boitel

Pedro Luis Boitel was a Cuban poet and dissident who opposed the governments of both Fulgencio Batista and Fidel Castro. In 1961, the regime sentenced him to 10 years in prison....

, an imprisoned poet and dissident, declared himself on hunger strike. After 53 days on hunger strike without receiving medical assistance and receiving only liquids, he died of starvation on May 25, 1972. His last days were related by his close friend, poet Armando Valladares

Armando Valladares

Armando Valladares is a former prisoner in Cuba turned United States ambassador to the United Nations.-Political prisoner:Valladares was a Cuban Postal Bank employee . He was arrested when he refused to display a sign on his desk that promoted communism...

. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the Cólon Cemetery

Colon Cemetery, Havana

The Colon Cemetery or more fully in the Spanish language Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón was founded in 1876 in the Vedado neighbourhood of Havana, Cuba on top of Espada Cemetery. Named for Christopher Columbus, the 140 acre cemetery is noted for its many elaborately sculpted memorials...

in Havana

Havana

Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

.

Guillermo Fariñas

Guillermo Fariñas

Guillermo Fariñas Hernández is a Cuban doctor of psychology, independent journalist and political dissident in Cuba. He has conducted 23 hunger strikes over the years to protest various elements of the Cuban regime. He has stated that he is ready to die in the struggle against censorship in...

did a seven-month hunger strike to protest against the extensive Internet censorship in Cuba

Censorship in Cuba

Censorship in Cuba has been reported on extensively, and resulted in European Union sanctions as well as statements of protest from groups, governments, and noted individuals....

. He ended it in Autumn 2006, with severe health problems although still conscious. Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...

awarded its cyber-freedom prize to Guillermo Fariñas in 2006.

Jorge Luis García Pérez

Jorge Luis García Pérez

Jorge Luis García Pérez is a human right and democracy activist in Cuba.Antúnez was jailed for 17 years from 1990 to 2007. Other dissidents have referred to Antúnez as Cuba's Nelson Mandela....

(known as Antúnez) has done hunger strikes. In 2009, following the end of his 17-year imprisonment, Antúnez, his wife Iris, and Diosiris Santana Pérez started a hunger strike to support other political prisoners. Leaders from Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Argentina declared their support for Antúnez.

Cuban exiles

More than one million Cubans of all social classes have left the island to the United States

Cuban migration to Miami

Cuban immigration has greatly characterized 20th century Miami, creating what is known as "Cuban Miami".However, Miami reflects global trends as well, such as the growing trends of multiculturalism and multiracialism; this reflects the way in which international politics shape local...

, and to Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, The U.K., Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

and other countries. Because leaving requires exit permit and substantial amount of money, most Cubans can never leave Cuban soil.

Dissidents are allowed to leave, but not to return. However, if a dissident returns, then he or she is forced to stay in Cuba.

Many Cuban exiles have actively campaigned for a change of government in Cuba.