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Cuba sentences 22-year-old mother to 15 years in prison for publishing videos of protests (english.elpais.com)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

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Mayelín Rodríguez Prado was arrested after uploading images to Facebook of a small demonstration in Nuevitas in August 2022

At the age of 22, Mayelín Rodríguez Prado received the heaviest of the sentences the Cuban government handed down to a group of 13 people who demonstrated in August 2022 in the municipality of Nuevitas, in central Cuba. Prado, who is the mother of a little girl, will serve 15 years in prison for publishing the protests through the social network Facebook.

Prado recorded the moment in which Cuban police beat three girls during the demonstration, as well as other repressive actions against protestors. The young woman, whose daughter at the time was less than a year old, was detained at her home after the protest and held in solitary confinement at a State Security facility.

The judicial sentence issued by the Municipal Court of Camagüey, to which the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) had access, states that the court agreed to punish Prado as “author of an intentional and consummated crime of enemy propaganda of a continuous nature” and “author of an intentional and consummated crime of sedition.” The court also announced sentences of between four and 14 years for 12 other participants in the demonstration for the same crimes. According to the Cuban Penal Code, sedition is a “crime against the internal security of the State,” and anyone who “tumultuously and by means of express or tacit agreement, using violence, disturbs the socialist order” can be prosecuted on that charge.

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[-] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 152 points 6 months ago

Waiting for the Tankies to tell us how this is actually a good thing

[-] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 43 points 6 months ago

Wondering how they can tie this to American sanctions like they do with every other issue Cuba has.

[-] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 17 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

So I will take a stab at it

Sanctions aren’t relevant here to the outcome though you could relate them to the need for protest which still wouldn’t justify the outcome. It would let you side with the protesters for being the power of the people and exemplifying Juche

however the US’ track record with both Cuba and the governments of other American countries does reasonably lead to paranoia

Also worth noting Cuba is a dictatorship not communist

[-] draneceusrex@lemmy.world 11 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Agreed, but to your last point, it is also worth noting that there are different economic models under authoritarian regimes. Both Nazi Germany and the USSR were dictatorships. Is it Marixist Communism in Cuba? No. But it is recognizable as a communist state as was perpetuated by the Soviet Union historically, regardless if you feel the term has been misappropriated.

[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Hmmm….

The Western idea of a dictatorship is exaggerated.

[-] draneceusrex@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

One person being able to kill and erase from the country's history books anyone under him, but is unable to micromanage every detail for a country with millions of people and is still forced to delegate tasks, does not make a dictatorship. Got it CIA. Thanks for the details of the semantics of the situation of these authoritarian regimes.

[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Like this.

“Every possible means should be undertaken to promptly weaken the economic life of Cuba,” Lester D. Mallory, then the deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said in April 1960, arguing that U.S. policy should aim “to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.”

[-] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

That wrong doesn’t excuse someone being locked up for the “crime” of taking pictures of police brutality.

[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Right. But it does tie it to the American sanctions like every other issue Cuba has.

[-] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

Ah, because of the root of the protest? I guess so, although Castro wasn’t exactly tolerant of political opponents prior to the sanctions.

[-] Tinidril@midwest.social 39 points 6 months ago

I'm not a tankie, and it's not a good thing, but this isn't exactly a great time for the US to puff it's chest out about our right to protest and protections for whistle blowers.

[-] Daxtron2@startrek.website 6 points 6 months ago

They didn't mention the US

[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 22 points 6 months ago

Did you read the article?

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols also criticized the convictions. " The harsh sentencing this week of up to 15 years in prison for Cubans who peacefully assembled in Nuevitas in 2022 is outrageous,” he said on X. “The Cuban government’s continued repression of Cubans striving to fulfill their basic rights and needs is unconscionable.”

[-] unreasonabro@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

born yesterday comment

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[-] AmidFuror@fedia.io 6 points 6 months ago

Individuals need to be sacrificed to the greater good of the revolution?

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 8 points 6 months ago

Honestly I'd respect them more if they went with that more frequently. At least we could agree on facts, then, even if we might depart on moral judgements.

[-] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

Looks like the imaginary tankies didn't show up.

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[-] Sanctus@lemmy.world 83 points 6 months ago

It seems the convergent evolution of government is authoritarianism. All governments seem to eventually move towards it.

[-] Noodle07@lemmy.world 88 points 6 months ago

It takes efforts to have a democracy

[-] Today@lemmy.world 17 points 6 months ago

If you can keep it

[-] retrospectology@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

"Keep your democracy. I saw democracy failing somewhere and being displaced by authoritarianism so I'm just opting for going straight to authoritarianism. I am smort but, also, do not trust me with the ability to influence my own society. I also don't see the irony of expressing here how my society should be run (even though I'm anti-democracy)."

[-] crusa187@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 months ago

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

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[-] barsoap@lemm.ee 9 points 6 months ago

Cuba is overall liberalising, just have a look at the gazillion of reforms after Castro. OTOH authoritarian habits die hard especially in places such as courts backing up the "thin blue line".

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[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 53 points 6 months ago

I guess Cuba and America aren't so different after all...

[-] Thassodar@lemm.ee 16 points 6 months ago

Oh no! You caught us doing something that makes us look bad!

Straight to jail.

[-] Zehzin@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Winds of Change by Scorpions played on a kazoo

[-] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 23 points 6 months ago

That's a heavy sentence. I am curious if she is the most sympathetic case or what are the situations with those other 12 who appear to have received lesser sentences?

The court also announced sentences of between four and 14 years for 12 other participants in the demonstration for the same crimes.

[-] nonailsleft@lemm.ee 4 points 6 months ago

Maybe they had less friends on facebook

[-] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 17 points 6 months ago

Seems a bit excessive

[-] unreasonabro@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago

cmon Cuba you're supposed to be cool, don't be this guy

[-] Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 6 months ago

Yeah, I'm re-assessing my thoughts on Cuba. I was under the vague impression that they didn't have the same rot at the core of the CCP and USSR. Maybe they don't and this is a particular low point. Either way, bad look.

[-] ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works 6 points 6 months ago

How could Joe Biden allow this to happen?

[-] 520@kbin.social 13 points 6 months ago

That's satire, right? Cuba is a completely different country

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 41 points 6 months ago

That should be obvious.

[-] 520@kbin.social 11 points 6 months ago

It should be, but you know Poe's law. People blame POTUS for ridiculous stuff.

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe 4 points 6 months ago

It just hit the tankies too close to home.

[-] ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works 20 points 6 months ago

The president has had over three years to cure cancer and he has done nothing. I'm planning to write in 'Cancer' this November because at least it has a proven track record.

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[-] daltotron@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

seems like the blockade is working as intended

[-] Tinidril@midwest.social 17 points 6 months ago

At least I get to live in the US where the right to protest is protected. /s

[-] daltotron@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

don't forget our great first rate healthcare, best and most innovative in the world

[-] chemicalwonka@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 6 months ago

is this irony?

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this post was submitted on 03 May 2024

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