On December 21, the Global Liberty Alliance was informed that the Organization of American States's Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued Precautionary Measures to protect the persecuted Cuban independent journalist Niober García Fournier. Mr. García Fournier has undergone near constant surveillance, harassment, and threats by Cuban police in the last few months. In September, he was even beaten.

Read the press release below.

In a letter to Panama's Ambassador to the United States, the Global Liberty Alliance reminded Ambassador Juan De Dianous that fundamental and human rights must be respected during the pandemic. Panama may have signed an agreement with Communist Cuba to retain the services of medical workers but this does not change the fact that it is forced labor. 

"Rather than enable the Cuban government in human trafficking, Panama should help bring an end to this inhumane practice. As a strong U.S. ally with a record of defending human rights and the rule of law, Panama should press the Cuban regime to stop abusing Cuban medical workers, allow workers to contract and travel freely, and practice their profession without violating their fundamental rights," said GLA President Jason Poblete. The letter is available at the end of this post. 

GLA received word that yesterday, December 10, on International Human Rights Day, Association of Free Yorubas members Yolexi Sánchez was detained by State Security, and threatened with 3 years' jail time and loss of his job.
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The reason? He belonged to the Association of Free Yorubas and to civil society organization Julio Machado Academy. Cuban State Security assured Mr. Sánchez that if he didn't quit both the Free Yorubas and the Julio Machado Academy, the father of 3 would be fired from his job and given 3 years of prison for "endangerment." Mr. Sánchez of course refused to abandon his beliefs and friends. Listen to testimony from Free Yoruba leadership below.

GLA denounces all state attempts to control freedom of worship and assembly, and is defending Mr. Sánchez and all those repressed under totalitarian regimes like Cuba's.

Yesterday, December 8, marked one week since Cuban political prisoner Silverio Portal Contreras was announced as released from prison. Two years into a four-year sentence for "public disorder" and suffering from cardiovascular ailments and a prison injury, Mr. Portal was granted medical release.

A GLA network lawyer (whose name is withheld for security reasons) filed several appeals of Mr. Portal's sentence and applications for parole in 2020, which were instrumental in his release. See the press release below.

The Global Liberty Alliance has learned that earlier today, Association of Free Yorubas and San Isidro Movement member, the young Jovián Díaz Batista, suffered from an "act of repudiation" at his home.  This time, the "repudiation" included people throwing stones at the home where he lives with his wife; the couple sheltered in place for fear of further violence.
"Acts of repudiation," a common occurrence in Cuba, are acts of intimidation, concocted by authorities and made to look like spontaneous protests against dissidents, 
For more information, listen to the below testimony by the Association of Free Yorubas leader Loreto Hernández García, and see the below footage of the repression filmed by Mr. Díaz Batista himself, courtesy of ADN Cuba News. 

​On November 24, GLA network attorneys published a legal Opinion (Dictamen) that discusses how the National Revolutionary Police of Cuba are criminally responsible for violating the human rights of San Isidro Movement member Denis Solís González (pictured at left).

Cuba is a totalitarian police state that uses the color of law to project political legitimacy, yet Cuban officials systemically violate Cuban "laws and regulations." In this Dictamen, for example, lawyers working outside the state legal system detail violations of the fundamental rights of San Isidro Movement group member, Denis Solís González.

On November 17, Global Liberty Alliance partner Ms. Sabrina V. Peláez, an attorney, and Mr. Christian Núñez met with the Uruguay national Representative Mr. Javier Radiccioni, who is a member of Uruguay’s Commission of Human Rights and Petitions. At the meeting’s conclusion, the parties agreed that the Uruguayan legislator would undertake a Request for Reports, through the Uruguayan House of Representatives, to the different national agencies involved in the agreements with Cuba.
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On Tuesday, November 3, the Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) applied for Precautionary Measures to protect a Cuban journalist, who wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons. Read the GLA press release below.

The Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) renewed calls for sanctioning Cuba's Office of Religious Affairs on November 2, 2020, in response to the October 30 demolition of an Assemblies of God church in Santiago de Cuba, and arrest of the church's pastors and those recording the incident.

Early on Friday, October 30, 2020, an Assemblies of God church in Santiago de Cuba was demolished by order of the Cuban State, and Pastor Alain Toledano, who livestreamed the incident, was arrested and held in police custody for over five hours. The church's pastor and his wife had already been detained.

​GLA believes this to be yet another egregious offense against religious freedom in Cuba, part of regular repressive activity conducted by Cuba's Office of Religious Affairs and other cooperating agencies. Read our press release by clicking on Read More.