After the protests in Cuba: “Haven’t heard from him for 72 hours”

After the protests against social injustices, the situation in Cuba is confusing. The government used some violence against demonstrators. Thousands of people are said to have been arrested and hundreds are missing.

José Bolaños has been missing since Sunday. He had left the house that afternoon to join the demonstrators. “We don’t know anything about him,” reports his cousin Laura Vargas. “We haven’t heard from him for 72 hours.” She contacted the police, but they said no one named José Bolaños had been arrested or hospitalized.

Since José Bolaños left the house that day, nobody has seen him: not his family, not his 10-year-old son – his friends have not received any signs of life either.

His cousin says he never took part in such actions. The people he protested with simply demonstrated against the social injustices. “I don’t think these people took to the streets for political reasons. They were clearly social protests.” There is a lack of medicine and food. Everything is lacking and all Cubans are aware of this.

Thousands have been arrested so far

Thousands of people have been arrested since the demonstrations, according to independent journalists. The online portal “14ymedio” speaks of 5,000 arrests, including 120 activists and journalists. The Cuban Ministry of the Interior does not publish any figures.

Independent journalist Cynthia de la Cantera Toranzo and other activists document disappearances and arrests reported by family and friends. She belongs to the group Desaparaecidos # SOSCuba. An updated list of names is published daily.

For the list, they would have made certain rules. To take a case, there would have to be at least three contacts missing that person, says Cynthia. “There are now more than 200 cases, which is of course very time-consuming, but we have to be very thorough so that we don’t discredit the list.” That is important to them.

“They’re criminals”

At first it was mainly well-known Cuban artists and journalists who were reported missing on social media. That encouraged many people to contact the activists, says Cynthia. José Bolaños is also on the list. It is the 124th case that Cynthia de la Cantera has recorded. You can hardly keep up. The project is based on volunteering, which not everyone approves of.

The retired math teacher Caridad Rodríguez is angry about the demonstrators and the unrest in the street. She herself lives in a poorer part of Havana.

“They are criminals, they lack respect. Nobody does that who has values. They only have one thing on their mind, they want to destroy,” complains the teacher. The destruction leads to nothing, it only creates division. And although they had a free education here, the country had made so many sacrifices.

President acknowledged shortcomings

In view of the demonstrations, Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel called on all revolutionaries to stand against the demonstrators on Sunday. Some of the pictures showed followers armed with clubs. Young protesters were seen throwing stones on videos shared on social networks. Security forces vehicles were overturned. Plainclothes police officers and heavily armed security forces repeatedly used violence against the protesters.

Three days after the start of the protests, the Cuban president acknowledged his own shortcomings for the first time, which, he says, could have led to the demonstrations. The government must critically analyze the problems in order to act and prevent them from recurring. Meanwhile, the family still has no news from José Bolaños. His cousin Laura Vega is also very worried.

The fear is great and the uncertainty as to when they will hear from him. One person has already been declared dead and they do not know what happened to all those who disappeared.