Yunior García Aguilera is a Cuban playwright, writer, and activist for human rights and democracy.
García Aguilera was one of the organizers of the peaceful protest by artists in front of the Ministry of Culture in Havana on November 27, 2020. After participating in the demonstrations of July 11, 2021, he was detained for more than 24 hours and released under a precautionary order.
Upon his release, he founded the Archipiélago Civic Platform, a citizen initiative that organized peaceful demands for political change and the release of political prisoners in Cuba. The platform planned the Civic March for Change that was scheduled for November 15, 2021.
In the months leading up to the march, he was subjected to prolonged state harassment: repeated interrogations, threats from the Havana Provincial Prosecutor’s Office, constant surveillance, internet and telephone service cutoffs, and acts of repudiation outside his home that included symbolic violence and direct threats against him and his family.
On November 14, 2021, his home was surrounded by paramilitary forces and Communist Party officials. For more than twelve hours, he, his wife, and his mother-in-law remained under siege, while the windows of the house were covered with Cuban flags and they were prevented from leaving.
On November 16, 2021, he was forced to leave Cuba with his wife. He currently resides in Spain, where he was granted political asylum.
Professionally, he is the founder of the Trébol Teatro group, where he wrote and directed more than a dozen plays, including Sangre, Pasaporte, and Jacuzzi. His works have been published and performed in Cuba, Argentina, the United States, Spain, Germany, and France. He is also a columnist for the independent Cuban newspaper 14ymedio.
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