Point number two would be that 29 Cuban journalists are incarcerated for no reason.
Cuba continues to be one of the world's leading jailers of journalists, second only to China, with 29 independent journalists currently in prison. Of these, 22 were jailed in a crackdown in March of 2003. Some also have had severe health problems. I bring with me a list of these journalists, whose only crime, so to speak, was to inform the public about the real situation in Cuba.
The repression is not only against journalists but their families as well. The wife of an independent journalist was fired from her job after being declared “politically unreliable”. Yolanda Álvarez, the wife of independent journalist Alejandro Tur, worked as an attendant in the bathrooms of “El Rápido” shopping centre in Cienfuegos. The shopping centre is owned and operated by the government under its corporate name CIMEX.
Now we go on to the Internet, still in point number two.
With less than 2% of its population online, Cuba is one of the most backward countries with respect to the Internet. An investigation carried out by Reporters without Borders in October revealed that the Cuban government uses several techniques to ensure that this medium is not used in a “counter-revolutionary” way.
We'll go on to point number three now, the re-emergence of racial discrimination in Cuba and the 90,000 black Cubans presently in jail.
The Republican era was very difficult for black people in Cuba. Following the infamous American intervention of 1898, a racial discrimination model was established that deeply affects that segment of our population. But this segment of the population continues to be the least prepared and the most vulnerable in Cuba.
In exchange for improving their lives, Fidel Castro wants absolute fidelity and submission from black Cubans. They were the main force of the Cuban army deployed in Angola, Ethiopia, Somalia, Congo, and other parts of Africa. Thousands of black Cubans died in countless wars around the world. They remain the main force of the Cuban army and police force. The regime is using black people in the quick-response brigade against other parts of the population.
The authorities sent hundreds of members of the black police force to Havana to contain the popular people protests in the capital. They are using extreme force against protesters, black and white, including repression against young black people from Havana.