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The Human Rights Oral History Project digital collection of the Cuban Heritage Collection includes videos and outlines of oral history interviews with Cuban dissidents.  In its first phase, the project focuses on the Black Spring of 2003 when the Cuban government arrested 75 activists.  Interviews were conducted with a number of the dissidents who served time in prison as part of the Grupo de los 75(Group of the 75) and with members of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White), an organization of the wives, mothers, daughters, and other female relatives of jailed dissidents.  The Human Rights Oral History Project was launched in 2013 with funding from the Marlins Foundation.

These oral histories express the views, memories and opinions of their respective interviewees. They do not represent the viewpoints of the University of Miami, its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The University of Miami makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefor.

Copyright to these materials lies with the University of Miami. They may not be reproduced, retransmitted, published, distributed, or broadcast without the permission of the Cuban Heritage Collection. For information about obtaining copies or to request permission to publish any part of an interview, please contact the Cuban Heritage Collection at chc@miami.edu.

Interview with Guillermo Fariñas, a Cuban dissident and independent journalist known for his hunger strikes in protest of the Cuban regime's censorship and violation of human rights.

Interview with Jorge Luis García Pérez and Iris Pérez Aguilera. Jorge Luis García Pérez, also known as Antúnez, is a human rights and democracy activist in Cuba. Antúnez was released from prison after serving a 17-year sentence from 1990 to 2007. Iris Pérez Aguilera founded the Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights, a human rights movement in Cuba.

Interview with Normando Hernández González and his wife Yaraí Reyes Marín. González is a self-taught independent journalist, writer, and human rights activist who was arrested as a political prisoner in 2003 during Cuba’s Black Spring. Yaraí Reyes Marín is a member of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White). She participated in nonviolent protests urging for the release of jailed dissidents.

Interview with Janisset Rivero, a Cuban activist and founding member of Directorio Democratico Cubano. In 1994, Janisset initiated Operación Boitel, a campaign of travel to other countries to incite support for the Cuban opposition movement. She testified before the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2002.

Interview with María Elena Alpízar, an independent journalist who wrote an article in May 2003 introducing the Damas de Blanco. She also marched with the female relatives of jailed dissidents and continues to support Cuban dissidents following her immigration to the United States.

Interview with Henry Constantin, Cuban journalist, writer, and blogger. After being expelled from journalism school twice in Cuba, he began writing for several blogs, news sites, and on twitter about the realities of Cuban life.

Interview with Carmelo Díaz Fernández, an independent Cuban journalist who was arrested and sentenced during Cuba’s Black Spring in 2003 and released in 2004 for health reasons.

Interview with Luis Enrique Ferrer García and his wife Milka Peña Martínez, who were both organizers in the Varela Project.

Interview with José Luis García Paneque, a medical doctor with a specialty in traumatology and plastic surgery who served as president of the Las Tunas chapter of the unofficial Cuban Independent Medical Association (Colegio Médico Independiente de Cuba).

Interview with Regis Iglesias Ramírez, who worked with Oswaldo Payá as a spokesperson, council member and organizer of the Varela Project, a petition calling for free elections and improved human rights in Cuba.

Interview with Sayli Navarro, a leader of Las Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) in Matanzas. Navarro’s father Felix was imprisoned in 1993 and again in 2003, leading her and her mother to participate in the activist group.

Interview with Yoani Sanchez, a leading Cuban dissident blogger who gained international fame for her negative portrayal of everyday life in communist Cuba. As one of the first independent journalists to reach the western world with accurate depictions of life under the Castro regime, she has won numerous awards and accolades and toured extensively across the world. She was listed as Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2008.

Interview with Berta Soler, who is a founding member and acting leader of the Damas de Blanco, an organization formed by the female relatives of jailed dissidents that has become a nonviolent protest group calling for the improvement of human rights in Cuba.

Interview with Dagoberto Valdés, a Cuban Catholic leader and founder of the magazines Vitral and Convivencia. He was the president of the Catholic National Congress, and participated in the 25th World Congress of the International Movement of Catholic Intellectuals in Rome in 1987.

Interview with Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, a Cuban dissident writer, journalist, and artist. He founded the independent e-zine Voces in 2010, one of the earliest independent blogs in Cuba to openly criticize the government. He has also written several novels, and maintains a popular twitter feed.

Interview with Rosa María Payá Acevedo, an activist in the Christian Liberation Movement who did an international tour promoting an independent investigation of the events leading to the death of her father Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero in July 2012.

Interview with Pedro Pablo Álvarez Ramos, who served as a labor union member and president of the Consejo Unitario de Trabajadores Cubanos (Unitary Council of Cuban Workers) and was an active organizer for the Varela Project.

Interview with Adolfo Fernández Saínz and his wife Julia Núñez Pacheco. Saínz was one of twenty-four independent journalists arrested in 2003 during Cuba's Black Spring, and Pacheco is a member of the Damas de Blanco.

Interview with Roberto de Miranda and Soledad Rivas. Roberto de Miranda was a professor in Cuba and the leader of El Colegio de Pedagogos Independientes (College of Independent Teachers of Cuba), and Soledad Rivas, his wife, was a founding member of El Comité de Madres (the Committee of Mothers), which grew into the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White).