SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- Cuban-American congresswoman María Elvira Salazar urged President Joe Biden to close the contract of the US embassy in Cuba with MadWoman, a MSME that fired a young man for writing “Down with the dictatorship!”
In a press release it was stated that the congresswoman also requested all information exchange between the diplomatic headquarters and MadWoman before April 1, 2024.
“The United States cannot under any circumstances work with ‘companies’ whose leaders fire their employees for criticizing the Cuban dictatorship,” the document stated.
In the text, they consider MadWoman “a cover for the regime,” which is why “it is completely unacceptable that our Embassy works with a ‘company’ that fires people for criticizing the Cuban dictatorship,” wrote Salazar.
“The United States Embassy in Havana must immediately cancel all contracts it has with MadWoman,” he argued.
The fact
Cuban artist Álvaro Hernández, 22, reported in January that he was fired from MadWoman, a marketing agency based in Havana, for writing “Down with the Dictatorship!” on social network X.
As reported DNA America, Hernández and his partner, Betto Góngora, who worked at MadWoman as a graphic designer, traveled to Mexico after the dismissal, with the intention of requesting asylum at the border.
“When I got to the meeting, they showed me my post on X and asked me, ‘What is this?’” Hernández told ADN América. “That is what I think”.
Hernández, surprised at the time by the claim, admitted that this type of reaction happens in a state company, but not in a private one. He even acknowledged that “many times comments were made within the company criticizing the inefficiency of the Cuban government.”
MadWoman, façade of the regime?
He also heard Disleidy Alfonso say that, despite being registered as an MSME, they were part of the Cuban government and “could not have employees making such comments.”
“They gave me several reasons why they had to ‘separate me indefinitely from my duties at the agency,’ since they were a government company and could not have employees making such comments,” he said.
The newspaper also investigated that the MadWoman employee manual states that the marketing company requests that its staff, contractors and collaborators “refrain from making publications or sharing content that may go against the policies established in the country.” [Cuba]”.
He also stated that MadWoman has provided services on projects for the United States Department of State and its Embassy in Havana. They would have made promotional materials.
The controversial private sector
Salazar, suspicious of the regime’s claims that the private sector on the island is in its infancy and wants access to foreign capital, called a hearing where he asked two of the State Department’s top officials for the Western Hemisphere and Human Rights Humans validate whether these MSMEs are truly independent of the regime.
One of the officials said that diplomatic staff in Havana frequently visit “small businesses” and are open to receiving negative information about them.
“The MadWoman case demonstrates that the myth of the “new Cuban entrepreneurs” is exactly that, a myth,” the statement recalled.
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2024-02-19 03:09:01
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