29.06.2015 .
Havana, Cuba
Tania Bruguera demands a permanent solution to her case.
Fernando Maura, a European Delegate and Vice Chair of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European Parliament, recorded the direct testimony of Tania Bruguera, the internationally renowned Cuban artist and activist; she demands that the Cuban authorities permanently withdraw the criminal charges that impede her from traveling abroad, and requests the normalization of her practice as an artist, since State Security agents have confiscated her equipment and have stated that they will not return these informational materials.
According to the explanation offered by Bruguera to the office of the European Representative last Saturday, on June 26th the artist was informed by the State Security’s presiding officer that a temporary dismissal of charges issued against her had been determined, a decision made in the wake of repeated visits by Cuban intelligence agents during the month of June. Bruguera did not agree with this decision and demanded that the charges be withdrawn permanently and with the guarantee of being able to return to Cuba, should she travel internationally.
“To accept ‘temporary” terms to the resolution of my case is to place Damocles’ sword upon my head, as it implies that the Cuban government can decide at any moment to detain me, process me, or prohibit my entry into my own country. It’s akin to putting a muzzle on myself. It’s an unacceptable condition that has the intention of domesticating my art and silencing me as a citizen,” commented Tania. This Tuesday June 30 marks six months since she was arrested, detained, and had her passport confiscated after trying to enact a work of political performance art in Havana, Cuba.
Currently the artist continues to make plans through the International Institute of Artivism ‘Hannah Arendt’ and is working on suing the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of the Interior for losses and damages.
MEPS Fernando Maura and Pavel Telicka, who are the Vice Chairs of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), are overseeing continued action in support of Human Rights and the Freedom of Expression in Cuba through the European Parliament. The testimony of affected parties for these types of detainments, as exemplified in the cases of Tania Bruguera, Antonio Rodiles, or Ailer González, amongst other activists, is responsible for the public outcry issued by these delegates to the High Representative of the EU, Federica Mogherini, through repeated letters, signed by dozens of varied representatives in the European Parliament.
In these letters they ask Mogherini, as the representative for European diplomacy, to pressure Cuban authoritiessothat they offertheir total respect for human rights and freedom, as an essential condition of furthering democratic normalization in the country.