145:âShock is what I felt when I learned that here you only need five students in order to form a group of some sort,â Maldonado wrote, âwhile in my country, the only group for the youth to join is the UJC, the Union of Young Communists, assuming they are not expelled from school, like San Miguel Molina, who got thrown out of medical school for having contrasting political views.â He left Miami in mid 2014. Juan Blanco, executive director at the office of the president of Miami Dade College, later described Maldonado as âthe kind of person that is very hard to not like....Very cooperative and willing to give a hand who need it. felt committed to changing the Cuban system through his art.â
203:. On March 28, a solidarity concert was held in Havana âfrom sunset until late at night.â Among the performers were Tania Bruguera, Maikel Extremo, Wichy Vedado, El Opuesto, Raper Isac, and Porno para Ricardo. The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FHRC) fought for Maldonado's release, calling him a political prisoner and demanding his immediate and unconditional release; JosĂ© Luis Martinez, Director of Communications for the FHRC, called him âan exceptional artist...and a good person who believes in the basic right of Free Expression, as well as all basic human rights, and democracy.â His friend and artivist in Havana Lia Villares launched a
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his skin was to blame that I was a prisoner.â The man said that he was âson of the motherland,â that Fidel had given him a house, and that such things did not happen anywhere else in the world. Maldonado wrote that evil can never triumph over good, violence over art and reason, death over life and love. He described his incarceration as a ânightmareâ that only served to legitimize his work and confirm the harshness of the Castro gouvernement. Maldonado's grandmother stated that her grandson âwas sleeping on the floor for two months because for him, as for many other prisoners, there was no bed.â
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Cuba to represent
Maldonado and was subsequently arrested. President of the Human Rights Foundation, Thor Halvorssen, called for Motley's and Maldonado's immediate release and called the arrest an â...outrageous abuse is the sad reality of Cubaâs ongoing totalitarianism. They first arrest prodemocracy activist El Sexto for criticizing and mocking the deceased ex-president, and now they arrest the lawyer that has traveled to Cuba to defend him,".
170:. On July 9, it was reported that he had been held without visitation for three days and that authorities planned to prosecute him the next day. He was accused of making a verbal threat. His mother and sister were prohibited from visiting him. On July 10, 2014, he was put through a trial. He was released afterwards but was required to report to the authorities every Wednesday and Friday thereafter.
111:(which involves a credible threat to harm the victim) and was released from prison where he was held for one year without possibility of bail. He was also charged with threatening her with violence. He was set for deportation back to Cuba but was allowed to remain in the US as a result if the likelihood of persecution in Cuba. He is a convicted felon on two years of probation.
142:(FHRC). While at MDC, Maldonado studied sociology, computers, psychology, business, and English. In an article by Maldonado that appeared in the student newspaper on February 13, 2014, entitled âThank You Miami Dade College,â he âmarveled at the differences between the two countries and the freedom of expressionâ in the U.S.
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that
Maldonado's mother and sister had tried to visit him, but had not been allowed to do so. Pardo Lazo also suggested that Maldonado was being targeted as an act of reprisal, and that the artist had been âdenied access to everyday hygienic items such as soap, toothpaste, a towel, and a toothbrush,â
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His graffiti art is a form of protest, criticizing the abuse of the Cuban people at the hands of the Castro regime, and he is âfrequently detained by the police under any pretext.â He has been called âa graffiti artist who does not forgive the Cuban regime.â A report in April 2015 stated that he was,
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2014, Maldonado was detained on his way to Parque
Central in Havana, where he was planning to put on a performance mocking the regime; he had with him two pigs whom he had named âFidelâ and âRaĂșl.â He was going to release the pigs for people to try to catch; the winners would get to keep the pigs. A
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On
November 26, 2016 following Fidel Castro's death, Maldonado was arrested for a video mocking his death. Maldonado was never officially charged for any offense and it was determined that the government illegally imprisoned him. On December 16, 2016 American Attorney Kimberley Motley traveled to
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In late
January, a text and drawings he had sent from Valle Grande prison were posted on multiple websites. Maldonado said he had met a fellow prisoner, convicted of forgery, who had a Castro tattoo. âI explained that I was an opponent of the Castro regime and that gentleman that he was engraved on
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activist who has been arrested and imprisoned several times in Cuba. He was arrested in the United States in 2018 and charged with a felony, aggravated stalking, for repeatedly violating a restraining order filed by his ex-girlfriend
Alexandra Martinez. He pled guilty in 2019 of aggravated stalking
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In
September 2015, Maldonado began a hunger strike for his freedom. It lasted 21 days until Cuban officials said he would be freed if he stopped the strike. But, he wasn't. In October 2015, he began a second hunger strike for four days. He was freed on October 20, 2015. He was taken in a white van
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has praised
Maldonado as âa free artist widely hated for his courage and his genius.â Cuban dissident Rosa MarĂa PayĂĄ has said that although born under totalitarianism, Maldonado has somehow managed to be a free spirit and âthe Cuban regime does not forgive that.â
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filed by the
Cubalex organization on behalf of Maldonado had been rejected, and that Maldonado consequently remained in Valle Grande prison, where he had been held since Christmas. As of January 25, 2015, Maldonado had spent a month in prison.
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Maldonado was arrested on July 6, 2014, when he and his ex-wife left their home. He was detained and without communications for several days. He was reportedly held at the Vivac el
Calabazar penal colony near
158:. According to one source, many observers felt that this was âyet another of the government's attempts to squelch counterrevolutionary sentiment.â Writer and photographer Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo reported on
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Other reports maintained that Maldonado's ex-wife had been âco-opted by the Cuban political police into working against her former husband.â His imprisonment was protested by organizations such as the
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and dropped off at his mother's home in Arroyo Arenas. His official letter of freedom listed "desacato" as his charges. He was held without trial for a total of 10 months.
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brought up Maldonado's case. In the same month, artists and activists paid tribute to Maldonado and fellow prisoners with an interactive spoken-word performance in
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693:"Cuba: El grafitero cubano, Danilo Maldonado Machado "El Sexto", se tatĂșa como homenaje viviente en su piel, la imagen de Oswaldo PayĂĄ Sardiñas"
138:(MDC) during the spring 2014 semester, when that institution hosted 15 students from Cuba as part of a new program sponsored by the Miami-based
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Maldonado's mother is named Maria Victoria; his grandmother's name is Maria Caridad. His sister is Indira Maldonado.
465:"Conceden el premio Våclav Havel al grafitero cubano El Sexto, privado de libertad desde el año pasado"
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281:(1952â2012), the founder of the Christian liberation movement who sought to reform the Castro system.
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It was reported on April 15, 2015, that Maldonado had been selected as a winner of the year's
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577:"Cuban authorities detain dissident artist following video mocking death of Fidel Castro"
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530:"Cuban Graffiti artist, Human Rights activist, El Sexto, detained and incommunicado"
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486:"Familia del grafitero encarcelado Danilo Maldonado espera verlo el martes"
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and stated that, to all intents and purposes, Maldonado had âdisappeared.â
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329:"Danilo Maldonado acusado en Miami de acoso agravado - Telemundo 20"
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677:"Cuban Graffiti Artists Bring Social Critique to Havanaâs Walls"
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campaign with the hashtag #FreeElSexto and created a petition.
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419:""El Sexto", un grafitero al que el régimen cubano no perdona"
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601:"Cuba Arrests American Human Rights Lawyer, Foundation Says"
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In March 2015, several Latin American artists boycotted the
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In September 2012, Maldonado was tattooed with an image of
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Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Cuba
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Maldonado emigrated to the United States in January 2017.
354:"El Sexto sale en libertad tras un año preso en Miami"
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at that time, âthe most persecuted of Cuban artists.â
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in solidarity with Maldonado and artist and activist
512:"Former Miami Dade College Student Arrested In Cuba"
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444:"El grafitero El Sexto, detenido e incomunicado"
16:Cuban graffiti artist and human rights activist
183:January 7, 2015, report stated that a writ of
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510:Hurtado, Daniela (8 March 2024).
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216:Summit of the Americas
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134:Maldonado studied at
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679:Reuters/NBCNews.com
605:NBC 6 South Florida
382:. 20 December 2018.
333:www.telemundo20.com
267:Oslo Freedom Forum
136:Miami Dade College
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360:. 12 October 2019
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106:artist and
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552:14 y Medio
364:7 February
358:Ciber Cuba
339:2019-01-15
292:References
180:Christmas
97:The Sixth
53:Education
315:De Sexto
160:Facebook
104:graffiti
93:El Sexto
534:FHRCUBA
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220:Panama
156:Havana
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