San Isidro Movement (MSI): Cuba

• 15 Dec 2020

Why in News

The Movimiento San Isidro started two years ago and has now become a platform for Cuban dissidents both within and outside the nation.

Key Points

• Background:
  
  • The Movimiento San Isidro, or the San Isidro Movement (MSI), started two years ago (2018) to protest state censorship of artistic work through Decree 349.
    
    • Decree 349 is a law that would have given powers to the Cuba’s Government to restrict cultural activity it did not approve of.
  • To protest against the decree, artists, poets, journalists and activists gathered in San Isidro, a Black-majority locality that is among Havana’s poorest yet most culturally active regions.
• Current Spark:
  
  • A member of the MSI, Afro-Cuban rapper Denis Solís, was arrested by the police. This led to widespread protests and strikes.
• Global View:
  
  • Various National government and International human rights organisations such as Amnesty International have raised concern for human rights in Cuba.
  • Cuban diaspora in many countries continue to hold rallies in support of the movement.
• The Cuban Government Stand:
  
  • The Cuban government alleges that the movement is funded by USA and are being used to subvert the state.

India Cuba Relations

• India shares close, warm and historical relations with Cuba and both countries are founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement.
• In 1959, the Cuban-Argentinean guerrilla commander Ernesto Che Guevara paid a diplomatic visit to India and was welcomed by the then Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.
• In 2019, India supported the resolutions in the UN General Assembly calling for lifting of US sanctions against Cuba.
• India and Cuba agreed to collaborate in the areas of Biotechnology, Homeopathy and the traditional system of medicine during the visit of the President of India to Cuba in 2019.

Source:IE