HAVANA – The Catholic Church in Cuba, the only political interlocutor recognised by the country’s communist government, yesterday called for “dialogue and negotiation” two weeks after a rare protest over freedom of expression.
Church leaders, in a Christmas message, said “good news for Cubans would be for intolerance to give way to a healthy plurality, dialogue and negotiation between those who have different opinions and criteria”.
The message from the Cuban Church’s episcopal conference, posted on its website, comes after some 300 artists engaged in a rare spontaneous protest in front of the Culture Ministry on November 27 to push for greater freedom of expression.
The ministry agreed to receive a 30-man delegation from the protest, but authorities hardened their stance the following day, denouncing what they called a US plot and eventually breaking off dialogue.
The Cuban government on December 6 met with young artists, whom it described as not having compromised their work with “enemies of the revolution” in a bid to marginalise the November 27 protesters. – AFP, December 13, 2020
