The “trial” of Alina Barbara Lopez
By Benjamin Noria
HAVANA TIMES – Many years ago, I read a book that included a thoughtful reflection maintaining that when dictatorships are in crisis or decay, the governments become more repressive.
I note the above, because it may explain what they’re doing to a PhD in history from Matanzas, Alina Barbara Lopez.
This academic has been harassed by the Cuban State Security, and in June 2023 she was even accused of disobedience. The motive for the accusation? Because she has spoken out bravely in all places about the outrages, abuses of authority, arbitrary actions, and human rights violations of the Cuban government.
Speaking for myself, it bores me to observe history being repeated over and over. The persecutions of opponents, the political purges, the personality cult – these same things occurred under Franco, under Stalin, and under Mao Zedong for example.
I thought that the theory of parallel worlds existed only in the phenomenon Albert Einstein described in his Theory of Relativity. But – what a lack of originality on the part of the Cuban government in wanting to resemble the same systems of government practiced under Pinochet [in Chile], Mussilini [in Italy], or Fujimori
