CUBA: On 6th anniversary of Black Spring crackdown, PEN releases postcard calling for freedom of 25 imprisoned writers


 19 March 2009

Freedom to Write in the AmericasSix years ago this week, 35 writers, journalists and independent librarians were arrested as part of a crackdown on alleged dissidents in Cuba; 22 of them remain imprisoned, along with three others arrested later. The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC) today makes available a postcard calling for the release of all 25 writers.

To mark the sixth anniversary of Cuba's Black Spring and World Poetry Day (21 March), the WiPC has produced a postcard calling on the Cuban authorities to release the 25 writers, journalists and independent librarians in prison on the island. The postcard features a stanza from a poem by former imprisoned writer Ángel Cuadra, who is the current President of the Cuban Writers in Exile PEN Centre.


  • PEN members are invited to print copies of the postcard and to sign and send as many as possible throughout 2009. The postcard can be downloaded by clicking here (English) or here (Spanish)

For more information on the writers, journalists and independent librarians currently imprisoned in Cuba, please click here.

For information on the WiPC's campaign Freedom to write in the Americas, visit http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/freedom-of-expression/campaigns. If you would like to receive email updates on the campaign or have any questions, please contact Tamsin Mitchell, WiPC researcher for the Americas at tamsin.mitchell@internationalpen.org.uk