Sissi Abascal details forced exile from Cuba after prison

Cuban activist and former political prisoner Sissi Abascal has detailed her forced exile from the country following more than 1,400 days in prison. Abascal, the youngest member of the Damas de Blanco, reported that upon the completion of her sentence, she was taken directly to the airport rather than being allowed to return to her home in Jovellanos.

Abascal described the departure as an orchestrated exile by the Cuban government. She further alleged that authorities used her mother, human rights defender Annia Zamora, as leverage, conditioning her release on the prior expatriation of her mother. While her mother and Abascal were forced to leave, her father, Armando Abascal, remains on the island.