Cuba talks on freedom of expression break down after rare protest
- The communist government called off talks with a group of artists and intellectuals called 27N, accusing it of being financed by the US
- President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the group was behind ‘an unconventional war strategy to try to overthrow the revolution’
Cuba’s Culture Ministry said it would not meet the artist collective’s delegates, accusing them of receiving “funding, logistical and propaganda support from the US government and its officials”.
The group of artists and intellectuals, which has begun calling itself “27N” – for November 27, the date of the protest – called for further dialogue, saying they were “not enemies” but Cubans seeking a better country.
Some of them said they had been prevented from leaving their homes by a large police presence and had received threats by telephone.
Officials initially agreed to a dialogue over the artists’ demands after the rare protest by around 300 members or supporters of the group outside its headquarters in Havana last weekend, spurred on by social media appeals.
