Cuba, a country living under an escalation of oppression and torture
The NGO Prisoners Defenders (PD) has counted 17 new political prisoners in Cuba, for a total of 1,037. The bulk of the list corresponds to people convicted for taking part in the July 11, 2021 anti-government protests. Among them are 35 minors, 18 of whom are being prosecuted or have already been convicted of “incitement to hatred”. The average sentence for these minors is five years, “a sentence that is on average higher than that suffered by adults in political prisons prior to July 11.” “In the last 12 months alone, we have confirmed and added 246 new political prisoners in Cuba to our list.” The Madrid-based organization also asserts that the prisoners of conscience “have suffered judicial sentences without any judicial supervision or legal defense, which is a blatant violates international law which protects due process”.
Prisoners Defenders has also published the first comprehensive study on the subject torture in Cuba Monitoring of 181 cases showed that “all prisoners of conscience and/or politicians are mercilessly tortured every day.” Forced labour, solitary confinement as a form of punishment, physical assaults, willful disorientation; threats to the integrity and safety of both prisoners and their families; Humiliation, degradation and verbal abuse”.
Brazil is on the verge of barring Bolsonaro from political activity until the 2034 presidential election
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Since yesterday he has been on trial before the electoral tribunal for spreading false information about the reliability of the electoral system in light of last year’s presidential elections. If convicted by a seven-judge jury, Bolsonaro will be barred from running for political office until 2030. The first presidential elections in which he can participate are therefore those of 2034, when he will be almost 80 years old.
Paolo Manzo, June 24, 2023
All about Latin America and its impact on the economy and politics of the old continent. Subscribe to Paolo Manzo’s newsletter for free http://paolomanzo.substack.com. After one week, you are entitled to exclusive webinars and investigation dossiers as well as the newsletter with a subscription of 30 euros per year.