Abraham Jiménez Enoa (born 1988) is a freelance Cuban journalist. He is the co-founder of El Estornudo and was the recipient of the 2022 International Press Freedom Award.

Early life and education

Jiménez Enoa was born in Havana into a revolutionary family, where almost everyone was a member of the Communist Party. He describes his youth as growing up within the "automatism of the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

." He lived mainly with his grandparents. His paternal grandfather was a bodyguard for

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

Ernesto "Che" Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

and other revolutionary leaders, and lived around the corner from Castro. His father is a retired colonel in the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

(MININT). A poor student in school, he had to attend a high school in the country. He graduated from the

University of Havana The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...

in 2012 with a degree in journalism. This was followed by service time at the Ministry of Information as an archivist until 2016. While there he began his journalism career by writing sports articles for ''OnCuba''.

Career

He left the MININT in 2016 to found El Estornudo, an independent magazine of

narrative journalism Narrative journalism, also referred to as literary journalism and long-form journalism, is defined as creative nonfiction that contains accurate, well-researched information. It is related to immersion journalism, where a writer follows a subje ...

. He was sanctioned for leaving the ministry with a regulation that barred him from leaving Cuba for five years. He became an outspoken critic of the regime. He covered taboo topics not otherwise covered, including

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

, poverty,

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and racism in Cuba. His writing appeared in both Cuban and international outlets, including

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

(WAPO) and Gatopardo. Jiménez faced increasing harassment because of his writing. His internet was blocked and he and his family were threatened. He was arrested, strip searched, handcuffed and told to stop writing for WAPO. He left El Estornudo in 2020, exhausted and needing to regain his strength. On October 20, 2020, he wrote a column for WAPO entitled "If this is my last column here, it’s because I’ve been imprisoned in Cuba," describing the harassment he and other journalists have been subjected to. In November, 2021, the government gave him an ultimatum: leave or be jailed. He fled to Spain in 2021 where he lives in exile Jiménez Enoa won the 2023 Michael Jacobs Prize for Travel Writing, telling the story of his first year out of Cuba.

Narrative style

His preferred writing style is the contemporary Latin American literary genre ''crónica'' which he used in his first book, ''La Isla Oculta''. He described this genre as being in the mold of writers such as

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics ...

and

Rodolfo Walsh Rodolfo Jorge Walsh (January 9, 1927 – March 25, 1977) was an Argentine writer and journalist of Irish descent, considered the founder of investigative journalism in Argentina. He is most famous for his '' Open Letter from a Writer to the Milit ...

(believed to be author of the first non-fiction novel in Spanish). He said this style gives him more time to investigate, meet with sources and "spend time in the places."

Personal life

Enoa lives in Barcelona with his wife and son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jiménez Enoa, Abraham Cuban expatriates in Spain Cuban journalists University of Havana alumni 21st-century travel writers 1988 births Living people Activists from Barcelona Writers from Barcelona