International
Cuban dissident says flight to Spain is ‘blow’ to opposition
AFP
Leading Cuban protest leader Yunior Garcia acknowledged Thursday that his flight to Spain following pressure from the authorities on the island was a “painful blow” to the opposition movement.
Garcia, who arrived unexpectedly in Madrid Wednesday with activist wife Dayana Prieto on a tourist visa, added he has no intention to seek asylum in Spain, and had left Cuba because he faced a “living death”.
The 39-year-old actor and playwright is the founder of online discussion group Archipelago which had called for protests in Cuba on Monday that were blocked by the Cuban government.
“I understand that it was a painful blow,” he told a news conference in Madrid when asked about the disappointment expressed by other Cuban dissidents over his abrupt departure.
“I will eventually forgive myself, perhaps for not having had the courage to turn myself to stone or become a bronze statute,” he added.
“Maybe I ask forgiveness for being human, for thinking about my wife and my life, and for escaping what was surely going to be a living death, because that is what awaited me in Cuba.”
Garcia has been the target of a relentless weeks-long campaign to discredit him in Cuban state media and pro-government blogs after Archipelago notified the authorities of the planned march.
He attempted to march alone on Sunday but was prevented from leaving his apartment after police and government supporters surrounded the building.
When he tried to communicate with journalists and others by displaying a white rose at his window, people standing on the roof unfurled a huge Cuban flag to cover the window.
Garcia told the Madrid news conference that his entire family had been “harassed” by the regime and his supporters, his wife told she would lose her teaching post and two decapitated pigeons were left outside his house.
– ‘Totally silenced’ –
“It was something orchestrated by state security forces” to scare us, he said, adding he plans to return to Cuba with his wife once their lives there are no longer “in danger”.
“I am certain the strategy of the regime was to keep me locked at home…totally silenced…the only thing I have is my voice and I could not remain quiet. Someone has to say what is happening in Cuba.”
During an interview with Onda Cero radio, Spanish minister for the presidency Felix Bolanos said Madrid had helped Garcia “with documentation” to facilitate his travel to Spain, without giving further details.
“What we did was a way of helping guarantee that this person would not have difficulties (in Cuba),” he said.
Born in the eastern city of Holguin, Garcia was long known only in the arts world — for his plays, as well as his television and movie scripts.
But since November 27, 2020, when hundreds of artists demanded more freedom of expression at a protest in Havana, he has taken on another role — one of the faces of a new generation critical of the government.
Cuban authorities have accused Garcia, without offering any proof, of being paid by the United States as part of a plot to destabilise the country, a charge he denies.
International
Chile enters runoff campaign with Kast leading and Jara seeking a last-minute comeback
Chile’s presidential runoff campaign for the December 14 election kicked off this Sunday, with far-right candidate José Antonio Kast entering the race as the clear favorite in the polls, while left-wing contender Jeannette Jara faces an uphill scenario, hoping for a comeback that some experts describe as “a miracle.”
The final polls released in Chile—published before the mandatory blackout on survey dissemination—give Kast, an ultraconservative former lawmaker running for president for the third time, a lead of between 12 and 16 points. His opponent, the communist former minister in Gabriel Boric’s current administration, is weighed down not only by the government’s low approval ratings but also by a fragmented electorate.
Although Jeannette Jara received the most votes in the first round with 26.9%, her lack of alliances beyond the left makes it difficult for her to expand her support. Kast, who secured 23.9%, has already brought key figures on board: ultralibertarian Johannes Kaiser (13.9%) and traditional right-wing leader Evelyn Matthei (12.4%), both now backing his candidacy.
Analysts note that although Kast’s support base consolidates more than 50% of the electorate, it does not guarantee an automatic transfer of votes. Populist economist Franco Parisi, who placed third with 19.7%, emerges as the major wildcard. His party, the People’s Party (PDG), is set to decide this Sunday through an internal consultation whether to endorse one of the two finalists.
International
Trump says asylum decision freeze will remain in place “for a long time”
U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that the suspension of decisions on asylum applications—implemented as part of his order to “halt” immigration from third-world countries following Wednesday’s shooting in Washington—will remain in effect “for a long time.”
The president declined to specify how long the freeze, imposed last Friday by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), would last. The suspension affects individuals waiting for an asylum ruling from that agency, though it does not apply to cases handled by U.S. immigration courts.
The delay is part of a series of measures enacted by the Trump Administration after a shooting on Wednesday in which an Afghan national allegedly opened fire on the National Guard in Washington, D.C., killing one officer and leaving another in critical condition.
Trump has ordered a permanent halt to immigration from 19 countries classified as “third-world.” He also indicated on Sunday that “possibly” more nations could be added to the list.
“These are countries with high crime rates. They are countries that do not function well… that are not known for success, and frankly, we don’t need people from those places coming into our country and telling us what to do,” Trump said, adding: “We don’t want those people.”
USCIS had already announced on Thursday a “rigorous review” of green cards held by migrants from 19 “countries of concern,” including Afghanistan, Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti.
International
Sri Lanka and Indonesia deploy military as deadly asian floods kill over 1,000
Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel on Monday to assist victims of the devastating floods that have killed more than a thousand people across Asia in recent days.
A series of weather events last week triggered prolonged torrential rains across Sri Lanka, parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, southern Thailand, and northern Malaysia. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said Monday in North Sumatra that “the priority now is to deliver the necessary aid as quickly as possible.”
“There are several isolated villages that, with God’s help, we will be able to reach,” he added. Subianto also stated that the government had deployed helicopters and aircraft to support relief operations.
Floods and landslides have claimed 502 lives in Indonesia, with a similar number still missing.
This marks the highest death toll from a natural disaster in Indonesia since 2018, when an earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed more than 2,000 people.
The government has sent three military ships carrying aid and two hospital vessels to the hardest-hit regions, where many roads remain impassable.
In the village of Sungai Nyalo, located about 100 kilometers from Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, floodwaters had receded by Sunday, leaving homes, vehicles, and crops coated in thick mud.
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