Emilio Roman Matos keeps returning to the municipal court in Havana’s Diez de Octubre neighbourhood to keep himself up to date with the trials of dozens of people who took to the streets to protest against the Cuban government in July 2021. Three of them are his children. Nearly 800 people have been prosecuted for taking part in the protests, the most important public demonstrations the country had seen in decades. Out of these, 96 come from Matos’s neighbourhood of La Güinera, one of Havana’s poorest.
After historic protests, defiant Cubans face mass trials
AP
Ismael Francisco/AP
By Patrick Oppmann, CNN
Following the most widespread protests since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, Cubans are now bracing themselves for a new aftershock poised to shake the communist-run island: Mass trials of those who dared to take to the streets calling for change.
Fewer than three weeks since the beginning of the unprecedented anti-government demonstrations, the trials are already underway. Not surprisingly, those proceedings are leading to swift convictions.
Photographer Anyelo Troya said he was running errands when thousands of Cubans streamed into the streets of Havana this month, many chanting “liberty” and “homeland and life,” a reference to a viral anti-government song. Troya, who had already drawn the ire of Cuban officials for filming part of the music video for that searing opposition anthem, rushed to the protests carrying his camera.