DATOS DE INTERÉS
GUEST:
SANDRA CEBALLLOS
HOST:
TANIA BRUGUERA
Synopsis:
Laritza Diversent talks about the events that sent her and her team into exile, and her work with Cubalex during a decade accompanying and defending political and social activists and artists in Cuba, narrated here in the first person.
Bio:
Laritza Diversent
(Havana, 1980)
Laritza Diversent is a Cuban human rights lawyer and pro-democracy activist. In 2010, she founded Cubalex in Havana, a non-profit organization specializing in legal assistance to victims of human rights violations. She has presented cases to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the UN Human Rights System. She was one of the civilian activists who met with the U.S. president Barack Obama during his historic visit to Cuba in 2016. In 2017, the Cuban regime raided Cubalex´s office, imprisoned one of their lawyers and opened an investigation against Diversent and her staff for “illegal activities.” In 2018, Diversent and her team were forced to exile to the United States to avoid further repression. Currently she lives in Maryland, where she continues her pro-democracy work in Cuba. Laritza Diversent holds a law degree from the University of Havana and a Masters in Law in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law from American University. Cubalex is a non-profit association that, through national and international law, defends and promotes human rights as a form of social transformation striving for the reestablishment of democracy and the rule of law in Cuba.
It is a non-profit, non-governmental social action organization made up of human rights defenders known for their performance, professionalism and experience in promoting reforms to the Cuban judicial system. Known for offering free legal services to victims of human rights violations and groups in situations of vulnerability in Cuba, it was founded December 10, 2010 in Havana, Cuba. It was registered in the United States since July, 2017 as a charitable organization, after the majority of their staff were forced into exile. Its mission is to defend and promote human rights as a means of social transformation to achieve the reestablishment of democracy and the rule of law in Cuba.
