Interviews with Jorge Luis Garcia Perez Antúnez

My name is Jorge Luis Garcia Perez- Antúnez.

Antúnez is my father’s last name, but for family reasons, when I came of age I decided to only use my mother’s last name. That is why my official name is Jorge Luis Garcia Perez.

I was born October 10, 1964, a day commemorating the start of Cuba’s wars for independence when [Carlos] Manuel de Cespedes liberated his slaves in 1868. I was born in Placetas, in the Villa Clara province, formerly Las Villas province. I come from a humble home. My mother was a housewife and my father a shoe cobbler. I had a normal childhood.

[Carlos Manuel de Cespedes (1819 – 1874) was a Cuban revolutionary who declared a short-lived independence from Spain and was elected president of the revolutionary government. He was killed by Spanish troops after they defeated the insurrection.]

I studied in different schools, always with scholarships inasmuch as my family’s difficult economic situation required, and I attended boarding schools throughout my studies. It was a normal childhood and adolescence except for when I began experiencing political repression. For example, as a young man, I questioned the role the [Fidel] Castro regime played in the Grenada invasion. While conversing with friends I publicly blamed the Castro regime for the deaths of Cubans that were there.

[Fidel Castro (1926 – ) led the Cuban Revolution and seized power in 1959. He established a communist dictatorship in Cuba and led the country until 2008. In 1983, the United States invaded the small Caribbean nation of Grenada after a communist coup overthrew the country’s socialist government. Despite receiving support from a small contingent of Cuban soldiers and engineers, the new communist leaders were defeated by American forces within days.]

I had to drop out of school. I always dreamed of becoming a lawyer. It was, and still is, my calling. I saw that dream cut short for two reasons. First, my family’s economic situation forced me to abandon my studies to help support my family. Then, when I began to study outside the university, I was unable to continue because my beliefs conflicted with those of the regime. That is why my professional life was cut short and I never became an attorney.

I married Iris Tamara Perez Aguilera, another human rights activist who founded and headed the Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights. I have no children. Sadly I can’t because I suffered various infections in prison that prevent me from doing so.

[The Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights is a Cuban civil society organization that defends the rights of activists, political prisoners, and the poor.]

Jorge Luis García Pérez (better known as “Antúnez”) was born in Placetas, Cuba in 1964. He is the leader of the Orlando Zapata Tamayo National Resistance Front. The Front is a Cuban civil society organization named for a political prisoner who died while on a hunger strike in 2010.

As an Afro-Cuban, Antúnez experienced the regime’s discrimination against minorities in restricting both educational and career opportunities. Such treatment, along with severe political repression, contributed to his disenchantment with the regime.

Antúnez, inspired by freedom movements in Eastern Europe, became active in the Cuban opposition. In March 1990, he was arrested for publically denouncing the Castro regime and sentenced to five years in prison. Despite his incarceration, Antúnez remained defiant by refusing to wear a prisoner’s uniform and rejecting the government’s re-education programs.

Antúnez also created the Pedro Luis Boitel political prisoners group in honor of the famous prisoner of conscience who died during a hunger strike in 1972. Through this organization, the prisoners drew inspiration and encouragement to continue their struggle. As a result, Antúnez was subject to solitary confinement, torture, and an extension of his five year sentence. He endured 17 years of prison before being released in 2007.

Antúnez continues advocating for freedom and democracy in Cuba with his wife, Yris Tamara Pérez Aguilera, leader of the Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights. His work involves supporting Cuban political prisoners, and expanding political freedoms and civil liberties.

Twitter: @antunezcuba