Cuba: Journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca released and forcibly exiled
Photo: Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca
"Valle Roca’s imprisonment and persecution by the Cuban authorities are a glaring testament to the escalating repression against critical voices in recent years. The government’s relentless persecution must come to an immediate halt, and all artists, writers and journalists unjustly imprisoned for their work and invaluable contribution to society must be freed”, said Ma Thida, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International.
12 June 2024: PEN International, PEN Cuba in Exile and Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) welcome the release of Cuban journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca on 5 June 2024. His medical conditions and forced exile to the US remain causes for concern.
Valle Roca left Cuba on 5 June 2024 after being imprisoned in June 2021 and sentenced to five years in prison in July 2022 for alleged crimes of “enemy propaganda and resistance”, according to information provided by the journalist to PEN International, and reports by the Instituto Cubano por la Libertad de Expresión y de Prensa (ICLEP).
His persecution and imprisonment are linked to his work as a journalist documenting daily life in Cuba. The day before his arrest, he recorded a peaceful action in Havana by activists who threw papers with quotes from Cuban poet and philosopher José Martí, and Cuban general Antonio Maceo. Valle Roca is the founder and director of Delibera, a blog and social media channel on socio-political issues in Cuba.
According to ICLEP, Valle Roca arrived in the US on a humanitarian visa, and his release was conditional on his exile from Cuba. These repressive tactics against journalists and artists are documented in PEN International, ARC and Cubalex’s report, Método Cuba: Independent Artists' Testimonies of Forced Exile, and PEN International Case List 2023/2024: War, Censorship and Persecution, which highlight the stories of artists, writers and journalists who have suffered repression for their work.
In May 2023, the Cuban government passed the Law on Social Communication, aiming to further restrict civic space in the country and criminalise those who express dissent online. The law prohibits the dissemination of information intended to “subvert the constitutional order and destabilize the socialist State of law and social justice.” Article 28 of the law stipulates that the media are "socialist property of the entire people or of political, social and mass organisations, and cannot be the object of any other type of ownership", effectively prohibiting independent media work.
PEN International, PEN Cuba in Exile and ARC call on the Cuban authorities to stop the harassment and persecution of all independent writers, journalists, and artists targeted for peacefully expressing their ideas and creative work, or for solely engaging in their professional duties or peaceful activism, and to immediately release them.
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