Jorge Luis García Pérez (known as Antúnez, born 10 October 1964, Placetas, Cuba) is an

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans () or Black Cubans are Cubans of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba associated with this community, and the combining of native African a ...

human rights and democracy activist.

Dissident career

Antúnez was jailed for 17 years from 1990 to 2007. Other dissidents have referred to Antúnez as Cuba's Nelson Mandela. During a demonstration in March 1990, State Security heard him saying that

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

is an

error An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

and a

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

. Saying that was a crime of "verbal enemy propaganda" and he was sentenced to five years in prison. In prison, he refused to wear the uniform and participate in "re-education", which meant violent beatings, nine months in solitary confinement and more years in prison. He escaped from prison to see his sick mother, but could not find her and was free only for a day. His mother died a month later. He was found guilty of "attempted sabotage". One of the charges was the failure to respect the Cuban leader

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 ...

. Antúnez continued nonviolent resistance in prison, where he gave birth to a political prisoner group named after Pedro Luis Boitel, an imprisoned dissident who died in a hunger strike in 1972. His courage received worldwide attention. When visiting Cuba in 1998,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

asked the

regime In politics, a regime (also spelled régime) is a system of government that determines access to public office, and the extent of power held by officials. The two broad categories of regimes are democratic and autocratic. A key similarity acros ...

to release him. Antúnez was released in 2007, before talks on

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

sanctions, after being imprisoned for 17 years and 34 days. Antúnez, his ex-wife Iris, and Diosiris Santana Pérez launched a hunger strike in 2009. Several leaders from Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Argentina declared their support for Antúnez. Police threatened Antúnez with eviction from his house and "disobedience" charges for hosting three other dissident thinkers (Osiris Santana Pérez, Ernesto Mederos Arrozarena and Carlos Michael Morales Rodríguez) in his home in April 2009. Antúnez's ex-wife founded the Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights. Antunez himself was a member of Orlando Zapata Tamayo which was to defend political prisoners. When President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

announced a blueprint for normalizing relations with Cuba on December 17, 2014, Antunez assailed the normalization plan as a capitulation to the Cuban government, echoing the views of Berta Soler and Oscar Elias Biscet that the US should have demanded democratic reforms in Cuba before contemplating a change in US policy towards Cuba. Antúnez moved to the United States with his wife, Magalys Rivaflecha, and daughter in 2019.

References

External links

Payolibre.com profile

Jorge Luis García Pérez
''

Freedom Collection Freedom Collection is a digital repository sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on Southern Methodist University's campus in Dallas, Texas. The collection documents major players in human rights and ...

'' interview {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Perez, Jorge Luis 1964 births Living people Cuban anti-communists Cuban democracy activists Cuban dissidents Cuban human rights activists Cuban hunger strikers Cuban prisoners and detainees Opposition to Fidel Castro People from Placetas Cuban people of African descent Prisoners and detainees of Cuba

Dissident career

See also

References

External links