Alina Bárbara López Calls for Civic Resistance in Honor of Mandela: "Protest and Disobedience Should Be Our Civic Weapons"

On Friday, Cuban historian and activist Alina Bárbara López Hernández issued a call for civic resistance in recognition of International Nelson Mandela Day, which takes place on Saturday, July 18. Despite anticipating her arrest, she announced plans to protest in Matanzas.

López Hernández, who has been under house arrest since June 2024, used her Facebook post to urge Cubans to embrace civil disobedience as their primary tool for change.

"If there's a place that needs Mandela's teachings, it's Cuba—a nation where freedom and prosperity have been long overdue," López Hernández declared.

The Significance of Mandela Day

Declared by the UN in 2009, International Nelson Mandela Day is observed on July 18, the birthday of the South African leader. The theme for 2026 is "It's still in your hands to fight poverty and inequality."

In her message, the activist highlighted the Cuban regime's real weapon of control: "The most powerful tool the Cuban state possesses isn't its special forces, police patrols, or thousands of agents on motorcycles, nor its tailor-made laws or even its dreadful prisons; it's our compliance, our apathy, and the indoctrinated belief that change must come from others, not through our own efforts."

Civil Disobedience as a Tool for Change

López Hernández argues that civil disobedience frightens the regime more than violent actions: "They fear it more than violent actions because it can lead to deeper and more lasting changes than armed struggle."

She suggests specific methods of peaceful resistance: banging pots and pans, refusing so-called "police interviews," non-violent demonstrations upheld by Cuba's own constitution, and displaying signs in doors and windows for those afraid to take to the streets.

The activist shared an episode illustrating the regime's hypocrisy: about three months ago, a State Security officer claiming to be a psychologist told her at the Matanzas police station, "You can't topple this with paper" and urged her to take up arms in the mountains. "The only time I've been invited to commit a crime," she remarked, using the incident to highlight her commitment to civic resistance.

Ongoing Struggle Against Repression

This isn't the first time authorities have tried to halt her monthly protests. On February 18, she was detained for 12 hours alongside Leonardo Romero Negrín. On April 18, she faced another nearly 10-hour detention, and on June 18, she was once again held for a similar period.

Anticipating another arrest this Saturday, López Hernández wryly noted she plans to go out at 1:30 PM to minimize detention time. "The patrol will be waiting, for there's never a shortage of fuel or effect of the oil blockade when it comes to repressing us," she wrote, directly referencing the energy crisis paralyzing the country while the regime maintains its repressive apparatus.

The trial against Alina Bárbara and Jenny Pantoja, scheduled for January 30, 2026, was suspended indefinitely without explanation, marking another illegal action by the regime-controlled judiciary.

This call to action comes amid unprecedented repression: according to Prisoners Defenders, as of July 9, Cuba has a historic record of 1,306 political prisoners, including 40 minors.

López Hernández reflected on Mandela's 1991 visit to Cuba, where he thanked the nation for supporting the anti-apartheid struggle, noting the irony of Mandela's legacy being disregarded on the Island. She concluded her post with a personal reflection: "They don't repress me because I became an activist; I became an activist because they started repressing me. Until then, I was just a writer."