Young Cuban narrates to CNN how a group of people tried to prohibit him from demonstrating against the arrest of a relative

(CNN Spanish) – A young Cuban told CNN on Tuesday that on November 15, when protests against the government were called on the island, a group of people, who he identified as followers of the Cuban government, tried to prohibit him from speaking out from his home against the arrest of a relative.

Jonatan López Alonso narrated that the day before the call, he had hung a sign outside his home in Santa Clara, located about 280 kilometers from Havana, to request the release of his brother-in-law, who, according to him, has been in prison since July for demonstrate peacefully against the government. The following day, according to his account, a group of people approached his home to remove the sign.

In a video of about 4 minutes broadcast by López Alonso, he is seen arguing with this group of people. However, the images do not show people trying to remove any signs. In one part he tells them that he is defending their freedom of expression and asks the names of at least two people in the group, although only one of them responds by simply saying that he is “a Cuban.”

CNN does not know what happened before and after the images captured by López Alonso.

In conversation with CNN, López Alonso explained that on November 15 he did not plan to take to the streets to protest due to the “militarization and threats” in Cuba, but he did intend to accompany the claim from his home. As he explained, this group spent most of the day guarding their home until 6 PM, local time, and affirms that they are people who “are forced to do acts of repudiation” under the threat of firing them from their jobs.

In conversation with CNN López Alonso said that he was not an activist, but that he defends human rights and that he defines himself as a “young Cuban like any other, like the majority who aspires to live in a free country, where there is democracy, where one can choose its president ”.

CNN has contacted the Cuban Embassy in the United States to obtain a reaction, without having received a response so far.

Several democracy activist groups called for protests against the Cuban government in various cities of the country on November 15. That day, the CNN team in Havana toured the city, reporting a heavy police presence and reporting that there were no protests during the day. However, according to information provided to CNN by the independent human rights organization Cubalex, based in the capital, the police arrested 11 people, while several agents and government supporters “besieged” another 50 in their homes to prevent them from protests will take place.

That same day, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, referred to the protests called in a live broadcast broadcast by state media, calling them “artificial expectations” and saying that there have been “attempts to create an image artificial “of the island.

In support of this day in Cuba, on November 15, several demonstrations were also held in different cities around the world, such as Miami, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Mexico City, Rome and Montevideo.