Dissidents find refuge in Pittsburgh

 

"I spent 21 months in Guantanamo Prison. I was there [for] nine months in a solitary cell. Of course this affected my health. There was a lot of time in terrible conditions. We were given rotten food, unclean water. There was a swarm of mosquitoes."   Jorge Olivera Castillo has endured persecution for several decades. His first arrest happened during the "Black Spring" of 2003, a purge of dissidents by the Cuban government. As a result, Jorge spent 21 months in Guantanamo Prison, 9 of them in solitary confinement. Jorge was released from prison in 2004, but his 18-year sentence was never commuted, and the harassment intensified over the years.  Jorge arrived in Pittsburgh in November 2021 and is a writer-in-residence at City of Asylum. In a recent interview with Sinead McDevitt of Pittsburgh Magazine, he spoke about the threats he faced in Cuba, his life in Pittsburgh with his wife, Nancy Alfaya Hernandez, and his work as a writer in exile.   Read the article   Learn more about City of Asylum's residency program