We at the Adam Smith Institute are pleased to host the Cuban journalist Boris González Arenas to give account of his experiences reporting in the country, human rights issues and the real political situation in Cuba.

Boris González Arenas, born in 1976 and who lives in Havana, graduated in history from Havana University and as filmmaker from the International School of Cinema of San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV).

Most of his work has been published in Diario de Cuba, a journal with which he has collaborated since 2014. Other publications appeared in the journal 14ymedio, the Brazilian magazine Época, and the Cuban American magazine Identidades.

He developed his academic career as a professor of the history of philosophy in the Institute of Arts in Havana, and professor of humanities in the International School of Cinema of San Antonio de los Baños. In January 2015, this work was terminated because of his activism and writings. He is currently a member of the Mesa de Unidad de Acción Democrática (MUAD) and of the electoral initiative #Otro18, both civil society platforms for democratic development in Cuba.

We look forward to hearing the truth first hand about a country so often portrayed as content under a regime that has shut down dissent and held back development.