A new trend among young people in Cuba has landed about 70 of them in jail. White rubber bracelets reading “CAMBIO” (change) have recently adorned the wrist of many a politically apathetic teen on the island. Many wear the bracelet purely as a fashionable fad rather than out of any strong adherence to the political implications behind their message of dissent. According to Juan Carlos González Leyva, a board member of the Council of Human Rights Rapporteurs (awesome band name, JC):

The arrests triggered fears that the Cuban government has kicked off a new wave of repression to crack down on dissent — one that ensnared largely apolitical teens.

Although some of the youth wear the bracelet as a sign of protest, the majority are enjoying the same fashion craze that swept the United States, González said.

Sigh. People should know better than to ask a Cuban for change.

”Some people wear the AIDS ones which are yellow [Ed. note: Yellow is for ball cancer, Versace],” González said. ‘These are white, but in the schools a lot of kids wear it backwards, so you can’t see the word `change.’ For a lot of kids, it’s nothing but a distraction. It doesn’t matter to them if it says change or anything else.”

So perhaps they are merely being arrested for crimes against fashion? Those rubber bracelets are heinous. But at least wearing a yellow ball-lovin’ bracelet didn’t get you thrown in jail.

Cuban youth arrested for wearing bracelets [The Miami Herald]