Nelson Gudín's Powerful Message of Support to Jorge Fernández Era: "They Hit You Because They Fear You"

Comedian Nelson Gudín has expressed his solidarity with fellow comedian Jorge Fernández Era after Fernández Era was subjected to physical assault and death threats by State Security officers. Gudín, known in Cuba for his popular character El Bacán, remarked, "They have to hit you because they fear you, because they have no weapons against you, because you've won in the eyes of all of Cuba and the world," in response to a post by Fernández Era detailing the attack.

"That's how Mandela and Gandhi won. That's how Lorca and so many others were killed. That's how Virgilio and Dulce María were silenced," Gudín continued, having relocated to Miami in 2021. El Bacán dedicated a poem to Fernández Era, written years ago "with the Homeland in mind" alongside poet Alexander Besú Guevara, as a tribute to Fernández Era's "greatness."

Other comedians, artists, and friends have also voiced their support for Fernández Era following the attack. Actress Susana Pérez commented, "My respects to you and your wife, we don't know each other personally, but your actions make me admire and support you and feel such disgust for that system that words can't describe." Similarly, comedian Ulises Toirac noted, "When they can't even uphold a dysfunctional idea with dignity, this happens. My embrace and respect."

Details of the Assault

On Sunday, Fernández Era labeled the State Security officers who attacked him last Friday as "fascists" and recounted the incident of physical assault and death threats he endured. He also revealed that the complaint he attempted to file against his attackers at the Diez de Octubre police station was dismissed, as he was told it involved minor damages, despite having a "certificate of injuries from Miguel Enríquez Hospital."

Regarding the attack, Fernández Era explained that after refusing to stay home and skipping his usual protest at Central Park, an officer took him to "the Zanja Unit," where he was held in a cell with five other detainees for about an hour before being moved to a room roughly three square meters in size with only two chairs, one without a backrest.

In that room, two State Security officers interrogated him, including one identified as Yoan. "During the discussion, with cowardice emanating from his being, Yoan hit me twice while the other held me," Fernández Era recounted. He had already shown physical injuries sustained on Friday. "The rest was an equally insulting session of psychological torture that included threats to knock out my teeth one by one and remove me 'from the path' using ‘contaminated store food, sidewalk and street holes, runaway cars…’ and other means I can’t recall due to the impact of the beating," he described regarding the threats.

Fernández Era believes there are "plenty of reasons to label his captors as fascists, including their disregard for the Republic's Constitution and the Criminal Procedure Law, which state that no one should be jailed without committing a crime and that detainees have the right to communicate with family or have basic needs like water." He added, "You shouldn't expect 'kisses' from them, but neither should they compete with their Batista-era tyrant cronies, as so many didn't die for that."

Cuban Regime's Repression of Fernández Era's Political Views

In April, State Security agents detained this Cuban intellectual while he was about to conduct his usual civic protest at Central Park, a demonstration he has repeated every 18th of the month for the past two years. His wife, Laideliz Herrera Laza, reported that he was intercepted at the corner of their home and taken to the Aguilera Unit.

The writer demands an end to Cuba's totalitarian regime, respect for civil rights, and the cessation of due process violations by the PNR, the Prosecutor's Office, and State Security. Repression against critical voices remains a constant in Cuba, where authorities criminalize peaceful protest and any form of public dissent.