Kirenia Yalit Núñez Pérez

"The Cuban Youth Discussion Group was established in February 2014. Initially, it was meant to serve as a platform for young leaders from other organizations. The idea though has always been to provoke an effort in these young leaders, to have a common proper agenda, and to take the plunge. Then we realized that the group could become one organization instead. So we started to focus on two primary goals - to support the leadership of young Cuban leaders and to promote, to defend human rights with a special spotlight on youth rights."

"At the popular meetings among the coworkers, I started to criticize the police and the certain institutions. At one point, they took me aside and said: 'I don't think it's a good idea to say certain things at this place, etc.' Those were the people who seemed to like me but took me aside nevertheless so that it wouldn't be a topic of the others conversation. Anyway, there came a time when I decided to leave the Center [Center for Psychological and Social Research]. They didn't suspend me. I was the one who has decided to leave because the job no longer matched my interests, it had nothing to do with what I had strived for. Although I had no clue about what I'll do next, I was certain that this is not the place I want to be. The project was implemented at the national level, PENU, and CONUMFA. And the initial reactions of the people who managed this project [at this level] were accusations that I was a coward, a traitor. They did not get why I, who guides the entire project, wants to withdraw like that. They even gave me an extensive analysis of the factors from the Center."

"My mother once found herself in a legal situation. She was wrongfully convicted, and I underwent the entire process with her. I think it was my first awakening, the first question which has marked my life and made me realize, not that I didn't realize it before, but for the first time, I was the one touched by the iniquity. I got the first real glimmer of understanding at what level we are, how corrupt the institutions are, and how privileged certain people are, not all, as the government has always claimed. And that's how I got the insight. I experienced it all, together with my mother. As I mentioned before, the incident played a crucial role in my whole life. It made me understood the level of corruption of prosecutors, lawyers, criminal investigators. I was learning the criminal code - although I have never learned it - I read it daily to figure out where exactly are the origins of my mother's process. They accused her of embezzlement. Lacking evidence, record and without lockup. My mother worked in a pharmacy. They accused her of embezzling drugs, all to cover up failures of the bosses."