Oscar Casanella finds himself in the middle of a legal process, where he is demanding that the drastic measure that has been applied to him by the National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology of Cuba (INOR), be suspended. Here is an update.
It’s 9 pm and he is sitting on the ground, his head in his arms, curled up in a red blanket. I walk slowly, trying to identify him. ¡Ariel! I call out to him. He raises his head, I give him a kiss on the cheek, and I realize that is wet with tears.
As a result of having been fired from my job at the Revolucion y Cultura magazine last July, I met, through a journalist who was interested in my case, Oscar Casanella, a biochemist who had also been irregularly sanctioned at his workplace.
Running into an old friend from your teenage years is always a pleasurable experience and more so when we discover that, as well as the years that have passed us by, his way of seeing things, his generosity and his enthusiasm for what he loves haven’t changed.
Castaneda forms part of this broken up, idealized and controversial group that was the ‘80s generation, subjects of the Renaissance of Cuban Art, those who challenged government institutions and received the heavy price of censorship in exchange. (7 photos)
Even though I was almost sure that the Labor Board would rule against me – a certainty based on the good vibes I got from the Oral hearing – I wasn’t sure I wanted to drag out the appeals process…
Before going to my oral hearing, also known as a public hearing, I thought that it would consider the suspension I received from my workplace just over a month ago; I thought I would be able to finally understand the legal and institutional arguments that created all of this mess.
Without promoting the event too much on digital platforms, we were able to present the Cuban Museum of Dissent on July 25th, on the eve of National Rebellion day without Police intervention.
I was informed that my employment at the cultural institution had been permanently terminated because “I had damaged the system’s, institution’s or country’s image by communicating malicious or misleading information.
Ever since my problems began because of my involvement with the Cuban Museum of Dissent, I haven’t been able to connect to the internet again at my old workplace, the Revolution and Culture magazine.