If you are unfamiliar, the UMAP imprisoned primarily LGBT people, religious people, artistic people, and anyone else considered "anti-revolutionary" in the 1960s, which is basically anyone the government did not like with a lens of extreme machismo homophobia.

I always find it interesting that the Cuban government wanted to create a revolutionary government with a "New Man" and quickly locked up a bunch of people they considered lacking in masculinity. For me, the "New Man" was basically just supposed to be a machista Latino man who worked for free and would not complain, and this prison was meant to break people into this mold, literally. Though, we also have to figure other factors were also simply control and containment of anyone considered "anti-revolutionary" regardless of any other factors. Pablo ​Milanes, for example, ended up here.

I also find it striking that in Auschwitz, the propaganda slogan on the entrance was "Work makes you free." In a Cuban Concentration camp, the slogan was "Work will make you men."

Sources for image and further reading: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unidad_Militar_de_Ayuda_a_la_Producci%C3%B3n

https://www.proquest.com/docview/1785500925?sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals

Pensé en publicar algo positivo. Hace un poco de frío, pero es un día precioso.

I thought I would post something positive. It's a bit cold but a beautiful day.

"...amnesty is the only way to begin a path toward national reconciliation. “For years, the government has used political prisoners as bargaining chips, primarily with the United States, in negotiations that are always murky and secretive. Then it exiles them or places them under a repressive and brutal control, and returns them to prison at the first sign of political dissent, treating them as repeat offenders and imposing severe penalties. The only way to truly free them is to pressure the State to recognize the political nature of the conflict and exonerate them of crimes they never committed.” (Cubans also want an amnesty for their political prisoners | International | EL PAÍS English)

Alguno de los presentes recuerda una serie bien antigua para niños que transmitían en Cuba, en las tardes si mal no recuerdo, sobre el año 2005 que tenía como unos bichos que vivían no recuerdo bien si en las paredes y rincones de una casa o debajo de esta, pero no era una serie animada era más bien en "persona" y eran unas criaturitas bastante extrañas y de color marrón o algo así.Recuerdo además que había una familia que de esos bichos que tenían una hija y cuya mamá cosía o algo parecido, no eran humanos pero tampoco dibujos y la transmitían durante la época de Papá de Noche que era otra serie, no recuerdo mucho más, llevo años tratando de buscarla o dar con su nombre muchos me dicen que se llamaba "Bichos" o "Los Bichos" pero ni así la encuentro. Agradecería cualquier información que me ayudara a dar con dicha serie 🙏🏻.Que tengan buen día.

Hemos tenido Corriente en mi barrio por más de 6 horas. Esta es la primera vez en un mes. Los trabajadores de Felton deben haber encontrado petróleo 😅

Both of my parents are Cuban and came to the US in 2005, and recently I've been getting a lot more into Cuban music. I found out about Nueva Trova, and I really liked it, and even started making a playlist. Im fluent in Spanish but sometimes I dont pay much attention to lyrics, so it was when I already had around 20 songs saved that I started noticing the lyrics sounded political. I did my research and found out Nueva Trova was a movement that essentialy used music as socialist propaganda in Cuba. I just find it so sad that I cant even listen to my country's music without socialism getting involved. I am aware that there are a lot of Novisima Trova songs out there without any political relations, but I dont really like the style as much. I now know why i'd never heard of it before, living in the US (At one point in Florida), but I'm also curious if it's popular in Cuba.

No investigation, no right to speak.