Versión Español
Cuba’s judicial system, if it can even merit the name, is one of a totalitarian state. Anyone who gets in the way of the regime’s official line, even a harmless graffiti artist, will suffer the consequences.
That is the case of political-prisoner El Sexto, whose real name is Danilo Maldonado Machado and who advocated for and practiced free speech in Cuba. As our columnist Orlando Luis Pardo Larzo brought to our attention one month ago, the regime kidnapped this man in December 2014, and has held him without charge ever since.
El Sexto dared to mock the rulers of the island with a skit that alluded to the Animal Farm story by George Orwell. Now, after nine months behind bars and a hunger strike under way, Human Rights Foundation staff fear for his life.
Javier El-Hage details the story from 1:45 of the MSNBC clip with José Díaz-Balart, which challenges the supposed notion that Cuba is liberalizing. In fact, nothing of the sort has occurred, as explained by Jaime Suchlicki of the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies. Read his blog post from yesterday: “Obama Flunks His Cuba Exam.” In particular, arrests of dissidents have ballooned this year.
