Abraham Jiménez Enoa (born 1988) is a freelance Cuban journalist and non-fiction novelist. He is the co-founder of El Estornudo and was the recipient of the 2022 International Press Freedom Award.[1]
Early life and education
editJiménez Enoa was born in Havana into a evolutionary family, where almost everyone was a member of the Communist Party. He describes his youth as growing up within the "automatism of the Revolution." He lived mainly with his grandparents. His paternal grandfather was a bodyguard for Fidel Castro, "Che" Guerara and other revolutionary leaders and lived around the corner from Castro. His father is a retired colonel in the Ministry of Interior. He was a poor student in school, and had to attend a high school in the country. He wanted to be a baseball player growing up. He found his skills were not adequate and chose to to become a sports writer. He graduated from the University of Havana in 2012 with a degree in journalism. This was followed by service time at the Ministry of Information as an archivist until 2016. While there he began his journalism career by writing sports articles for OnCuba.[2]
Career
editHe left the MININT in 2016 to found El Estornudo, an independent magazine of narrative journalism. He was sanctioned for leaving the ministry with a regulation that barred him from leaving Cuba for five years. He became an outspoken critic of the regime. He covered taboo topics not otherwise covered, including prostitution, poverty, human rights and racism in Cuba.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). Jiménez faced increasing harassment because of his writing. His internet was blocked and he and his family were threatened. He was arrested, strip searched, handcuffed and told to stop writing for WAPO.[3] He left El Estornudo in 2020, exhausted and needing to regain his strength.[2] In November, 2021, the government gave him an ultimatum: leave or be jailed.[4] He fled to Spain in 2021 where he lives in exile.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
References
edit- ^ "CPJ's 2022 International Press Freedom Awards". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ a b "Abraham Jiménez Enoa: "Professions do not belong to those who study them... but to those who practice them" - No Country Magazine". 2021-08-23. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "Cuba: Threats and harassment to Abraham Jiménez Enoa confirm growing censorship". Pen International. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "From Ties With Fidel and Che to Exile for Cuban Journalist". VOA. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
Independent digital media in Cuba