#OZT I Accuse the Cuban Government

Enlightenment: The Light on the Wall

2011-02-23T08:53:00.000-05:00

By Geandy Pavón in commemoration of the first anniversary of Orlando Zapata Tamayo's death.

AI to Cuban regime: Stop harassing OZT's family

2011-02-22T13:01:00.000-05:00

Cuba authorities urged to stop harassing dead activist’s family
22 February 2011

Amnesty International has urged Cuban authorities to end the harassment of relatives of a human rights activist who died during a hunger strike last year.

Reina Luisa Tamayo, whose son Orlando Zapata Tamayo died at a Havana prison in February 2010, told Amnesty International she was arrested by state security agents who threatened to stop her and other mourners from commemorating the anniversary of Orlando’s death in church, on 23 February.

“The fact that the Cuban authorities have so far failed to initiate an investigation into Orlando’s death is outrageous and preventing his family from properly celebrating his life is a scandal,” said Javier Zuñiga, Special Advisor at Amnesty International.

Tamayo, 72, her husband and another activist, Daniel Mesa, were forcefully detained on Friday 18 February by more than a dozen local security agents as they were walking around their village in Banes, north-west Cuba. Tamayo and her husband were released 12 hours later and Mesa, two days later.

Tamayo said the agents had threatened to prevent her leaving her home and go to the cemetery where her son is buried, in breach of her human rights.

“The recent releases of activists in Cuba, who shouldn’t have been put in prison in the first place, will only be meaningful if, once all activists are released, they are able to carry out their legitimate work defending human rights without fear of reprisals,” said Javier Zuñiga.

“The harassment suffered by people like Orlando Tamayo’s relatives clearly goes to show that things still have not changed in Cuba and the authorities need to do much more to ensure human rights are a reality for all.”

Orlando Zapata Tamayo was arrested in March 2003 and sentenced to three years in prison in May 2004 for “disrespect”, “public disorder” and “resistance”.

He was subsequently tried several times on further charges of “disobedience” and “disorder in a penal establishment” - the last time in May 2009 - and was serving a 36 year-sentence at the time of his death in prison.

Reina Tamayo said she intends to live in exile in the USA along with a number of her relatives and has been granted all relevant documents by the US authorities.

The Cuban government has yet to issue the necessary permits.

Laura Pollan: Freedom, not exile

2010-11-12T12:50:00.001-05:00

The European Union receives more than 52,000 signatures from the "OZT: I Accuse the Cuban Government" campaign

2010-10-04T20:41:00.004-04:00

Osvaldo Antonio Ramírez, Cuban writer; Dirk Van Den Broeck, from Arco Progresista (Progressive Arch), with Walter Vermander, who signed the petition of the #OZT campaign. The group stands at the entrance of the European Commission in Brussels, with the packet of signatures and the letter for Catherine Ashton.

The more than 52,000 signatures of the "#OZT: I Accuse the Cuban Government" campaign were delivered the morning of October 4th at the European Union (EU) offices. The delivery was made by members of the Arco Progresista (Progressive Arch) Party in collaboration with this campaign. The signatures were delivered to Alexandra Knapton, the official responsible for human rights in the cabinet of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton.

Delivery of the signatures to Alexandra Knapton, the official responsible for human rights in the cabinet of Ashton.

The group in charge of delivering the signatures had a meeting with Knapton and spoke about this human rights campaign and its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all Cuban political prisoners. A letter included alongside the packet of signatures informed Ms. Ashton of the repression that continues to take place in Cuba, and asked for the support of the European Union for a future of full respect for individual liberties in Cuba.

Knapton reviews the documents of the #OZT campaign during the meeting.

Nemesis Venezuela: Dedicated to Franklin Brito

2010-09-25T14:17:00.003-04:00

This is an Art-Performance by Cuban born artist Geandy Pavon, it consist in a digital projection of Franklin Brito on the facade of the Venezuelan Consulate in New york city, Brito was a venezuelan farmer and engineer who die in a hunger strike asking for the lands that were taken arbitrarily from him by the government of Hugo Chavez. He is become a symbol of the struggle for freedom in Venezuela.

In Greek mythology, “nemesis” represents divine justice ─a persecutory memory.

He has staged performances like this one in New York, Barcelona and Washington, proyecting the image of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, an Afro Cuban plumber and peaceful activist, died last February of a hunger strike.

Vladimir Alejo Miranda, who sewed lips shut during a hunger strike has been hospitalized

2010-09-24T12:11:00.006-04:00

Cuban dissident who sewed his lips shut after doctors made fun of his hunger strike was taken to a hospital Wednesday suffering from convulsions and blackouts, an independent journalist reported.

Vladimir Alejo Miranda, 47, stopped eating 62 days ago, sewed his mouth Sept. 5 and stopped drinking water Tuesday, journalist Heriberto Liranza Romero told El Nuevo Herald by phone from Havana.

Alejo's wife, Rita Montes de Oca, joined his hunger strike and also sewed her lips Sept. 12 with regular sewing thread and a needle, the journalist said.

Alejo was taken to a hospital in the Havana municipality of Guanabacoa on Wednesday after he blacked out and went into convulsions, Liranza added. No independent confirmation was immediately available.

He was receiving intravenous fluids and could be sent home or transferred to a larger hospital depending on his condition, Liranza said. Alejo and his wife also suffer from infections around the lips.

(More at The Miami Herald)

AP: Cuba to free 4 more political prisoners into exile

2010-09-18T14:02:00.000-04:00

HAVANA — Cuba's Roman Catholic Church on Friday revealed the names of four more political prisoners to be released into exile in Spain, bringing to 36 the number freed and sent off the island under an agreement with President Raul Castro's government.

The men are among 75 dissidents who were arrested in a March 2003 crackdown on organized political opposition and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. The charges included treason and conspiring with U.S. authorities to undermine Cuba's communist system.

Under a once-unthinkable government deal with the church, which Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos helped facilitate, Cuba agreed on July 7 to release the remaining 52 prisoners still imprisoned from the crackdown.

Nelson Molinet Espino, Hector Raul Valle Hernandez, Miguel Galvan Gutierrez and Jose Miguel Martinez Hernandez will be freed as soon and flown to Spain, Cuban church official Orlando Marquez said in a statement.

That means all 36 former prisoners released so far will have elected to head to Spain with their families. One then continued on to Chile and settled there.

That leaves just 16 awaiting release some nine weeks after the agreement — though some political prisoners have been offered freedom but declined to leave their country.

It is not clear if those released subsequently will be exiled or if some will be allowed to stay in Cuba — and how long their releases will take is also unknown.

EU parliament president calls on the Cuban regime to free all political prisoners

2010-09-15T10:34:00.001-04:00

The President of the European Parliament met today [yesterday, 14 September 2010] with recently released Cuban political prisoners: Antonio Díaz, Ricardo González, Normando Hernández and Omar Rodríguez whom are all exiled in Spain.

Following the meeting the President said: "There is no half freedom. Freedom cannot be handed out in small rations. Cuban peoples should enjoy their basic human rights, freedoms and solidarity in their own country, not in exile.

I have the highest respect for these brave people here and their families. They stand as an example to all those who care about freedom, human rights and democracy.

The release of the prisoners is a positive step.

However, the European Parliament calls again for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Cuba.

The Cuban government must respect fundamental freedoms, especially the freedom of expression and political association. I wrote this summer to President Castro to allow the Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco) to leave the island so that they can accept Parliament's invitation to collect the 2005 Sakharov Prize in person.

We voice again our profound solidarity with the entire Cuban people and support them in their progress towards democracy and respect and promotion of fundamental freedoms."

Original here.

Cuba – on the path to more democracy?

2010-09-08T17:46:00.004-04:00

ISHR: New arrests and repressions against civil rights activists and independent journalists after the announced release of 52 political prisoners

Frankfurt am Main (23 August 2010) – One month after the announced release of 52 political prisoners new violations against civil rights activists and independent journalists minimize the hope that the Castro regime could move in the direction of respect for human rights and more democracy. The International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) in Frankfurt, Germany, today criticized that the releases go on very slowly and in tiny rates. Until August 23 just 23 political prisoners who could or were forced to leave the Castro state had been released. Most of them would have rather stayed on the island to continue their commitment for a free and civil society. In the light of this fact the EU-Cuba NGO Network appeals to the European Union.

In Germany, this NGO Network is represented by the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) in Frankfurt am Main. The coalition’s aim is to convince the European Union to maintain on its Common Position on Cuba and not to negotiate a bilateral agreement on its fall revision.

The political prisoners who had been released into Spanish exile also ask the EU to maintain on its Cuban human rights policy and to support democracy and human rights on Cuba. Further on the NGO Network calls for the review of the developments in Cuba every six months and for not rescheduling the reviews as it happened in June 2010.

Despite some positive developments it is necessary to add that Cuba is still far away from democracy and constitutional legality. The released Cubans were inevitably forced to leave the country and, thus, their families and had to go into exile in Spain – a part of the agreement with the Cuban authorities. Thus, the Cuban government could legally ditch many human rights and political activists. In this way the democracy movement in Cuba lost many of its most active characters.

ISHR: Arrests and intimidation of democracy movement continue

According to the ISHR, the human rights situation on Cuba is unimproved: repressions against human rights activists go on. Several members of the Cuban democracy movement have been arrested in the last weeks, others have been exposed to aggressive assaults and have been harassed psychological. One example is Reina Luisa Tamayo Danger, the mother of the political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo who died on 23 February 2010 after an 86 days lasting hunger strike. Lately she was bashed by Security Guards, authorities do not allow her attending the mass in church or visiting her son’s grave.

On 16 August 2010, the author, journalist and blogger Luis Felipe Rojas was detained by the Cuban police in his house in the town of Holguín in the East of Cuba. The officials refused a reason for the arrest. It is assumed that the employee of the independent newspaper "Diario de Cuba" (Diary of Cuba) was arrested because of a report about human rights abuses in the East of the island. He was allowed to leave the police station after a questioning which lasted 19 hours.

On 15 August 2010, three supporters of Ms Reina Luisa Tamayo Danger have been arrested by the Cuban State Security. On 16 August 2010, five Cuban students were detained by police while holding a demonstration in front of Havana University. They called their fellow students to campaign for human rights on Cuba.

The ISHR demands from the Cuban government to release the more than 170 political prisoners who are still in prison, to release the recently arrested students and civil rights activists immediately and to stop the policy of intimidation against civil rights activists and journalists. “As long as these people are still in Cuban prisons, the European Union needs to maintain on its Common Position on Cuba and may not engage in a bilateral agreement“, the spokesman of the ISHR, Martin Lessenthin, declared.

STATEMENT BY THE EUROPE-CUBA NGO NETWORK IN SUPPORT OF EU COMMON POSITION ON CUBA

August, 2010

The Europe-Cuba NGO Network welcomes the recent steps by the Cuban government which show some progress in the area of human rights and democracy. We also appreciate that the Cuban government has acknowledged the existence of political prisoners on the island by releasing a significant number of them. The international community, however, should make sure that the release of these prisoners is unconditional, their exile only optional, and their living and working conditions are adequate. In relation to this, we call on the Cuban government to immediately release Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet and other prisoners who have expressed their desire to stay in Cuba.

In September, the European Union will decide on the future of its Common Position on Cuba, as the revision was postponed in June until the autumn months. In light of the efforts of Spanish government to replace the Common Position with a bilateral agreement, we call on the EU to maintain its Common Position as a sign of support for democracy and human rights in Cuba. It is important to stress here that the maintaining of the Common Position was recently officially supported by the released political prisoners exiled in Spain.

As a document, the Common Position does not represent an obstacle to progress in EU-Cuba relations. In paragraph 4, the Common Position states that the European Union will support progress towards democracy in Cuba by, apart from other means, intensification of political dialog and economic cooperation. In this light, the EU can apply additional interim measures that will reflect recent developments on the island - such as fostering of people to people dialog through diplomatic and academic visits, and the deepening of dialog with the Cuban authorities. It is also necessary to reinforce, to extend and to intensify at an institutional level the dialog with the democratic opposition and independent civil society.

If the Cuban government continues and reinforces respect for human rights and democracy with further positive steps, the EU should consider official lifting of the diplomatic measures introduced in 2003.

However, if taking any steps that would lead to closer cooperation between the EU and Cuba, the EU must set criteria which reflect overall progress in the area of human rights and democracy. These criteria might include patterns of documented harassment and acts of repression against political prisoners, political dissidents and independent civil society in general, as well as ratification and implementation of the ICCPR and ICESCR, etc.

Progress should then be revised in the current semiannual cycle, without using additional instruments, as was the case in June, when the EU decided to provide extra three-month period before reviewing the Common Position on Cuba.

The Europe-Cuba NGO Network would hereby like to express its hope that these steps of the Cuban government mark the beginning of its opening a dialog on human rights and democracy, becoming thus a partner for the EU and its members.

(Source: The International Society for Human Rights.)

Documentary premieres on the Ladies in White #Video

2010-09-03T15:29:00.000-04:00

Cuban prisoner of conscience sews mouth shut

2010-08-31T12:10:00.001-04:00

By Alberto de la Cruz

Alfredo Álvarez Leyva, a prisoner of conscience on a hunger strike and who is being held in the El Tipico Nuevo prison in the Las Tunas province of Cuba has sewn his mouth shut in protest.The political prisoner is demanding the respect of human rights and adequate nutrition for the prisoners being held by the Cuban dictatorship.

Cuban independent journalist Caridad Caballero Batista has reported to Radio Marti that there are 56 prisoners in the penitentiary suffering from severe malnutrition and many more that have not been reported suffering illnesses from malnutrition and the lack of medicine.

(Source: Babalu Blog.)

Guido Sigler Amaya facing threats

2010-08-26T15:02:00.002-04:00

By Alberto de la Cruz

Miguel Sigler Amaya, brother of Ariel Sigler Amaya, is informing that Guido, the brother still imprisoned in Cuba as a prisoner of conscience, has been placed among common criminals. Guido has received threats and his belongings have been stolen by other prisoners. This is a common tactic used by the regime whereby common prisoners are rewarded for attacking and harassing political prisoners.

This development comes on the heels of Guido receiving a phone call from Cardinal Jaime Ortega pleading with him to accept the regime's offer of forced exile in Spain. Guido informed the Cardinal that he would not accept forced exile in Spain as a condition to his release. He told him that if and when the dictatorship releases him, he will decide as a free man in his home whether or not to remain in Cuba, and only he would decide where he would go if he chose to leave.

Miguel Sigler Amaya states that Guido's transfer to an area of the prison with common criminals and the subsequent threats and theft of his personal belongings is an obvious attempt by the regime to persuade him to accept the Cardinal's offer. Miguel expressed disgust that the Archbishop of Cuba has lent himself to partake in this vile attempt by the regime to persuade his brother through threats of bodily harm to accept banishment and forced exile as a condition to his release.

(Source: Babalu Blog.).

Church: More Cuban political prisoners will be freed

2010-08-25T09:55:00.003-04:00

A half-dozen more Cuban political prisoners will soon be released, according to the Catholic Church.
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com

Cuba's Catholic Church on Tuesday said six more political prisoners will be freed and go to Spain, but concern was growing over the fate of 10 others who want to stay and the fresh arrests of eight dissidents.

The church identified the six as Víctor Arroyo, 57, serving a 26-year sentence; Alexis Rodríguez, 40, serving 15 years; Leonel Grave de Peralta, 34, serving 20 years; Alfredo Domínguez, 48, serving 14; Próspero Gainza, 53, serving 25; and Claro Sánchez, 56, serving 15.

An additional 26 already have been released and gone to Spain under an unprecedented agreement between the government and Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega to free at least 52 political prisoners by the end of October.

The 52 were the last still in jail from a group of 75 rounded up in a 2003 crackdown. One wheelchair-using prisoner, Ariel Sigler Amaya, was freed and came to Miami for medical treatment.

But the government has remained silent on the 10 prisoners vowing to stay in Cuba if freed, said Berta Soler, spokeswoman for the Ladies in White, relatives of the 75. Her husband is serving a 20-year sentence.

Soler said some of the women met with Ortega last week and asked about the 10 as well as the two dozen among the 75 who were previously paroled for health reasons but technically remain under penal sanction.

``The government is aware of our questions, but gives no answers,'' she said by phone from Havana.

Havana human rights activist Elizardo Sánchez said he suspects the government will keep the 10 in jail until the end of the process, hoping the extra prison time will make them change their minds.

``It shows the government's bad faith,'' he said.

Sánchez said he's also concerned about the eight dissidents detained this month and still in jail, a shift from the usual government tactic of briefly detaining critics. Only a few dissidents were brought to trial last year, he noted.

Brothers Nestor and Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina, Enyor Diaz Allen, Francisco Manzanet Ortiz and Roberto Gonzáles Pelegrín were arrested Aug. 12 during a public protest in Cuba's easternmost town of Baracoa. They are under investigation for charges of public disorder.

Manzanet and González went on hunger strikes the day of their arrest and are now in a hospital in nearby Guantánamo, the Miami-based Cuban Democratic Directorate said Tuesday. The Lobaina brothers joined the hunger strike Aug. 20 and remain in a Guantánamo jail.

Three other dissidents -- Michel Irois Rodríguez, Luis Enrique Labrador and Eduardo Pérez Flores -- have been held since Aug. 16, when they read an anti-government declaration from the steps of the University of Havana. Sanchez said he has received reports the three also have declared hunger strikes and could be charged with contempt.

South Florida Republican Reps. Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on Tuesday demanded the immediate release of the three, saying they ``face the risk of long prison sentences.''

(Source: The Miami Herald.)

#OZT in La Habana

2010-08-20T14:15:00.001-04:00

As reported by Yoani Sanchez on Twitter, a group of Cuban opposition activists and bloggers have delivered the more than 52,000 signatures supporting our campaign's Declaration to the Cuban National Assembly ("parliament") in La Habana.

We will update with more details as soon as we receive them.

AFP: Havana harassing hunger striker's mother - dissidents

2010-08-19T20:00:00.000-04:00

MADRID — Two more political prisoners from Cuba arrived in Spain on Thursday, where they accused the island's communist government of harassing the mother of a dissident who died in a hunger strike.

The two -- Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, 44, and Fabio Prieto Llorente, 47, both journalists -- arrived on separate flights accompanied by a total of 16 relatives, an AFP photographer at the airport said.

Twenty Cuban dissidents arrived in Spain last month and three more on Tuesday following their release by Havana.

One more, 61-year-old journalist Juan Adolfo Fernandez, is expected on Friday.

In a deal struck between the Roman Catholic Church and the government of President Raul Castro that was brokered by Spain, Cuba agreed to free 52 of 75 dissidents sentenced in 2003 to prison terms of up to 28 years.

The releases came after dissident hunger striker Guillermo Farinas nearly starved to death in Cuba.
Another political prisoner, Orlando Zapata, died in detention on February 23 after 85 days on hunger strike.
Herrera and Acosta charged Castro's regime had been harassing Zapata's mother, Reina Luisa Tamayo, since his death.

"They won't allow her to walk to church [to a cross of Christ the King] to pray for her son," Herrera said.

"That's why we call on the world, the European Union, and the community of democratic nations to speak out against this outrage, this barbarism."

Tamayo told Spain's Europa Press news agency she had only been able to visit her son's grave four times as security services had prevented her "by force" from leaving her home.

Both the journalists also accused Havana of using the release of dissidents to hide the repression of its opponents.

"No one should hope that the Castros are going to make changes," said Herrera.

"The regime will remain the same, corrupt and military," added Prieto.

He said the release of dissidents was merely aimed "easing international pressure" on the regime.

Cuban dissidents say that even after the release of the 52, another 115 political prisoners will still be languishing behind bars in Cuba.

Christian Solidarity Worlwide: Let Reina Luisa attend church

2010-08-19T09:12:00.001-04:00

Mother of dead Cuban prisoner of conscience prevented from attending church
17/08/2010

Christian Solidarity Worldwide is calling on the Cuban government to allow Reina Luis Tamayo Danger, the mother of Orlando Zapata Tamayo who died in Cuban prison earlier this year, to attend religious services and to cease their harassment of Tamayo Danger and her family.

Since the beginning of August, on consecutive Sundays, State Security agents and other pro-government members of the community in the town of Banes have physically blocked the road taken by Tamayo Danger on her way to church, preventing her from attending Sunday Mass and visiting the cemetery where her son is buried.

Video footage sent out of Cuba shows a line of men in uniform interlocking arms across a dirt road, standing face to face with a small group of women accompanying Tamayo Danger. The women are part of a larger movement across the island known as the Ladies in White, made up of wives and mothers of prisoners of conscience. A crowd of people chants pro-government slogans and shouts obscenities at the women who stand in front of them, unable to pass.

According to Tamayo Danger, for over five months she and her family have been subjected to acts of intimidation from government officials, including verbal abuse and threats of violence. Her weekly attendance at Mass at the La Caridad Catholic Church has been particularly targeted. She says, however, that the violence and intimidation is no longer confined to Sundays.

Tamayo Danger requested that the international media to come to Banes to cover the situation. CSW is calling on representatives of European embassies in Cuba to go to Banes to investigate these threats and show solidarity with her.

CSW’s National Director Stuart Windsor says, “No one should be subjected to these tactics of intimidation simply because they are attempting to attend a weekly religious service, a right enjoyed by religious believers across Cuba. We are calling on the Cuban government to cease its harassment of Mrs Tamayo Danger immediately and to allow her to attend Mass and visit her son’s grave without hindrance.”

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663 or email kiri@csw.org.uk.
CSW is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.

Notes to Editors:
1. Orlando Zapata Tamayo was one of 75 prisoners of conscience arrested and imprisoned in March 2003 in a wave of political repression now known as the Black Spring. He went on hunger strike in at the end of 2009 to protest prison conditions. He died in February 2010 after prison officials denied him water for eighteen days, leading to kidney failure, and withheld medical treatment until it was too late. There was an international outcry following his death and he has since become a symbol for dissident groups across the island.

2. Video footage of the events in Banes can be found on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5Qz-OB9K94&feature=player_embedded
The footage in this link is freely available to the public. CSW does not take responsibility for the content provided therein. Any views expressed on the website do not reflect those of CSW of its staff.

Three more Cuban dissidents arrive in Spain

2010-08-17T21:52:00.002-04:00

By JORGE SAINZ (AP)

MADRID — Three more Cuban political prisoners arrived in Madrid on Tuesday, bringing to 23 the number who have been released into exile under Cuba's pledge to free dissidents jailed there since 2003.

The three were among six dissidents Cuba's Roman Catholic Church said last week would be freed. The other three are due to arrive in Spain in the coming days.
The trio arrived by plane accompanied by some 15 family members and were taken to a hotel on Madrid's outskirts, where they were helped by Spanish Red Cross workers.

Twenty other dissidents were flown to Spain in separate groups last month.
The men are among 75 dissidents arrested in a March 2003 crackdown and sentenced to lengthy prison terms on charges that included treason.

In a landmark deal after talks with the church and Spain, Cuba agreed July 7 to release the remaining 52 prisoners still held.

All released so far have agreed to leave Cuba for Spain, with one then settling in Chile.

The three that arrived in Madrid on Tuesday were Marcelo Manuel Cano Rodriguez, Regis Iglesias Ramirez and Efren Fernandez Fernandez.

They were greeted at the hotel by other former Cuban political prisoners who waved Cuban flags, sang the national anthem and made 'L' signs with their hands for the word "liberty."

"I think we have been freed because the (Cuban) regime needs to clean up its image internationally," said Iglesias Ramirez.

The three said recent public appearances by Fidel Castro showed nothing was likely going to change on the island. A health crisis in 2006 forced Castro to cede power to his younger brother Raul — first temporarily, then permanently.

"I don't think anything will change," said Cano Rodriguez. "We have been obliged to leave and we're not any nearer democracy."

"There is no opening up. The regime is just looking to gain time as the brutal repression dissidents continue to suffer in Cuba shows."

Cuba maintains none of the released is a former prisoner of conscience and insists they are all mercenaries paid by Washington and supported by anti-Castro exiles in Miami whose only goal was to discredit the Cuban government.

Spain has said it will give all the former prisoners work and residency permits.

(Source: The Associated Press.)

Amnesty International Calls on Cuban Authorities to End the Harassment of the Mother of Deceased Prisoner of Conscience

2010-08-17T17:02:00.002-04:00

August 17, 2010

The Cuban authorities must act to end the harassment of the mother of a prisoner of conscience who died following a hunger strike to push for the release of other prisoners, Amnesty International said today.

Reina Luisa Tamayo, whose son Orlando Zapata Tamayo died in February this year, told Amnesty International she has been repeatedly harassed by authorities and government supporters during the regular marches in memory of her son that she carries out in the town of Banes.

"Reina Luisa Tamayo is simply paying tribute to her son who died in tragic circumstances, and that must be respected by the authorities," said Kerrie Howard, Amnesty International's Americas deputy director.

Every Sunday Tamayo, who is usually accompanied by relatives and friends, walks from her home to the church of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad, to attend mass and then they march to the cemetery, where Orlando is buried.

On Sunday August 15, government supporters arrived early in the morning and surrounded her house, Tamayo told Amnesty International, preventing her and her relatives and friends from marching and attending mass at the church.

Ahead of the march, Cuban security forces also allegedly detained in their homes some of the women due to attend for up to 48 hours, without any explanation for the measure.

Tamayo told Amnesty International that six loudspeakers were installed near her house and were used to shout slogans against her and the Ladies in White, an organization of female relatives of prisoners of conscience campaigning for their release.

On August 8, Tamayo was confronted by government supporters, who blocked her path and, according to her account, beat relatives and friends of the family. She said a police patrol was parked nearby watching the events, but failed to intervene.

Amnesty International has also expressed its concern at a series of recent detentions by the police of independent journalists and dissidents. "At a time when the Cuban government has begun to release prisoners of conscience, the campaign of harassment against Reina Luisa Tamayo and the arbitrary detention of journalists and dissident figures shows that the authorities are yet to make significant progress on human rights," said Howard.

Writer Luis Felipe Rojas Rozabal was detained by the police at 7 a.m. on August 16, at his home in the town of San Germán, province of Holguín.

Rozabal's family is unaware of the reasons of his arrest, but they have said they suspect this might be related to his criticism of the government. He has been arbitrarily detained on several previous occasions in similar circumstances.

Several members of the Eastern Democratic Alliance, a network of political dissident organizations, have also been detained.

Background

Orlando was one of dozens of prisoners of conscience adopted by Amnesty International in Cuba at the time. The majority were among the 75 people arrested as part of the massive March 2003 crackdown by authorities against political activists.

Currently there are at least 30 prisoners of conscience in Cuba's jails. Amnesty International calls for their immediate and unconditional release.

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.8 million supporters, activists and volunteers who campaign for universal human rights from more than 150 countries. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.

(Source: Amnesty International.)

Ros-Lehtinen Condemns Cuban Dictatorship's Cowardly Attacks On Reina Luisa Tamayo

2010-08-17T11:06:00.003-04:00

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a senior member of the Florida Congressional Delegation, issued the following statement after hearing an audio tape of Sunday’s attack on Reina Luisa Tamayo, mother of deceased political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who died at the hands of the Castro regime. For the last couple of Sundays, Reina Luisa Tamayo has been verbally and physically attacked by state sponsored mobs as she tries to visit a local church to pay respects to her deceased son in her hometown of Banes, Holguin.

Ros-Lehtinen’s statement:

“The cowardly, brutal, dying and fearful dictatorship of the Castro brothers once again stoops to its usual low. Their latest attacks on Reina Luisa Tamayo, preventing this infirmed 62 year old grieving mother from attending Sunday church, is yet another example of the ruthlessness of the Castro regime.

A mob of hundreds of state sponsored thugs surrounded Reina’s home in Banes this past Sunday morning screaming vulgar and racial slurs against her and the five women and one girl who tried in vain to attend church. This grieving mother is even prevented from visiting her son’s remains in the town cemetery because the regime fears any possible outpouring of support for Cuban patriot Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who died while imprisoned in Castro’s jails.

Only in a failed state such as communist Cuba would the regime send State Security and Interior Ministry forces to keep a grieving mother from properly mourning the death of her son. The international community must come to terms with the sad fact that the latest ploy by the regime of releasing political prisoners is just that, a ploy. Nothing has changed in Cuba and nothing will change as long as the Castro brothers and their feared and repressive apparatus are in control. Anyone who has any doubt need only hear or see the images from Reina’s home this past Sunday morning.”

***
PRESS RELEASE
For more information: August 16, 2010
Alex Cruz, Communications Director
Office 305-668-5994 or 202-225-3931
Cellular 202-225-8200 or 202-225-4630

Reina Luisa Tamayo: “I hold the Cuban government responsible!”

2010-08-13T13:12:00.000-04:00

Alberto de la Cruz at Babalublog reports on his phone conversation with Reina Luisa Tamayo. She sent a message to the world:

For the past two Sundays the Cuban government has not allowed me or my family and supporters to attend church or to visit the cemetery where my son, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, is buried. The government has sent people to carry out acts of repudiation. They have pushed and shoved us, beaten us. Both my legs have been injured by the physical attacks I have endured. We only want to be able to go to church and to pay our respects at the grave of my son, Orlando Zapata Tamayo. They, however, will not let us.

For five months my house has been surrounded by state security. The government has ordered people to harass and repress us. They have brought weapons with them -- clubs and knives. These people wait until uniformed security agents are watching to push and beat us with the hopes that it will curry favor for them from the government. They hope by doing the bidding of the Castro brothers, the government will overlook how they steal from their workplaces and trade on the black market. The government will not overlook their actions because it a government of assassins!

We have been beaten along with fellow members of the opposition that have stood next to me. My son has been beaten over the head and his back. But we will not give up, we will not kneel to the Castro brothers.

The news media has done nothing to help us. The Catholic Church has done nothing to help us. Cardinal Jaime Ortega has never tried to contact me and has done nothing to stop the beatings we are receiving for only wanting to to go church and visit the grave of my son.

This Sunday, at 8:30 am, I, along with my family and supporters, will once again leave the house and attempt to go to church and visit my son's grave. Whatever happens to any us, I hold the Cuban government responsible!

(H/T Capitol Hill Cubans)

Amnesty International calls for urgent action to protect Reina Luisa Tamayo

2010-08-12T16:37:00.003-04:00

URGENT ACTION

MOTHER HARASSED FOR MARCHING FOR DEAD SON

The mother of a Cuban prisoner of conscience who died after hunger striking has been repeatedly harassed and intimidated in an attempt to stop her from organizing marches to commemorate her son's death. The next march is planned for 15 August.

Reina Luisa Tamayo is the mother of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a prisoner of conscience who died on 22 February 2010, having spent several weeks on hunger strike whilst in prison. Since her son’s death, Reina Luisa Tamayo has organized weekly marches on Sundays in the town of Barnes, Holguin Province, Cuba, to honour her son's memory.

Relatives and friends accompany Reina Luisa Tamayo on these weekly marches from her home to attend mass at the Nuestra Señora de la Caridad Church, in Barnes and from there to the cemetery where Orlando Zapata Tamayo is buried. Last Sunday, 8 August, the group reported that as soon as they tried to leave Reina Luisa Tamayo’s house to start their march, they were confronted a few metres away from the house by hundreds of government supporters who blocked their way and beat some of the participants. They were pushed back to the house and followed into the house’s garden. The participants tried twice more to leave the house and resume the march but they were again violently confronted by the government supporters, who stayed outside the house until late in the afternoon. According to Reina Luisa Tamayo, during all this time a police patrol was close to her house watching as the events unfolded and failing to intervene.

The group have reported how prior to 8 August, they have also been confronted by government supporters and state security officials who have gathered around Reina Luisa Tamayo's house and prevented them from marching, sometimes preventing them from reaching the church, the cemetery, or both. They have also reported how state security officials and police officers have set up check points on the routes to Reina Luisa Tamayo’s house on the day prior to the march to prevent people from reaching the house and joining the march.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Spanish or your own language:
Calling on the authorities to ensure an immediate halt to the harassment and intimidation of Reina Luisa Tamayo by government supporters, and that of her relatives and friends and any other citizens who seek to peacefully exercise their right to freedom of expression, assembly and association;
Calling on the authorities to permit Reina Luisa Tamayo and others to march peacefully as is their right on Sundays.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 22 SEPTEMBER 2010 TO:

Head of State and Government
Raúl Castro Ruz Presidente
La Habana, Cuba
Fax: +53 7 8333085 (via Foreign Ministry); +1 2127791697 (via Cuban Mission to UN)
Email: cuba@un.int (c/o Cuban Mission to UN)

Salutation: Su Excelencia/Your Excellency

Interior Minister
General Abelardo Coloma Ibarra
Ministro del Interior y Prisiones
Ministerio del Interior, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana, Cuba
Fax: +53 7 8333085 (via Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
+1 2127791697 (via Cuban Mission to UN)

Salutation: Su Excelencia/Your Excellency

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

URGENT ACTION

MOTHER HARASSED FOR MARCHING FOR DEAD SON
Additional Information

Reina Luisa Tamayo is one of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White), a group of women relatives and friends of prisoners detained during a major crackdown on government critics in March 2003. In 2003, over several days, the Cuban authorities arrested 75 men and women for their peaceful expression of critical opinions of the government. They were subjected to summary trials and were sentenced to long prison terms of up to 28 years. Amnesty International declared the 75 convicted dissidents to be prisoners of conscience, 32 of them remain in prison.

Damas de Blanco organizes peaceful weekly marches in Havana where they distribute flowers and call for the release of their relatives and friends. In March 2010 Damas de Blanco organized a daily march for a week to mark the seventh anniversary of the arrest of their relatives. On 17 of March 2010, their march was forcibly broken up by Cuban police, who briefly detained several women. Some of the women claimed that they were beaten by the police.

UA: 174/10 Index: AMR 25/012/2010 Issue Date: 11 August 2010

(Source: Amnesty International).

Marc Masferrer: Castros send goons to their hometown to attack Zapata's mother

2010-08-09T11:07:00.000-04:00

The town of Banes, on the north coast of eastern Cuba, is best known as where Fidel and Raúl Castro were spawned. Before that, it was also Fulgencio Batista's hometown.

Some of that ignominy has been washed away in recent months as a current resident, Reina Luisa Tamayo, has courageously carried on the legacy left by her son, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a political prisoner who died Feb. 23 after an 86-day hunger strike.

Señora Tamayo and supporters, like their fellow Ladies In White in Havana, march each Sunday on behalf of Cuba's political prisoners, from Mass at a local church to Orlando Zapata's grave site.

And almost every Sunday, goons unleashed by Banes' bastard sons, the Castro brothers, swarm around Señora Tamayo and her supporters, tossing threats and insults and throwing punches and kicks. The greater their fear of this old woman and her friends, the louder and more dangerous they get.

Reina Luisa Tamayo, however, has remained undaunted, her undying love for her son driving her as she becomes one of the inspirational figures of the Cuban opposition.

It happened again today, as security forces and "common" prisoners brought to the scene by the authorities surrounded Tamayo's house, on the Embarcadero highway in Banes.

"They were punching us from behind, hitting and kicking us," Tamayo told Radio Martí. "My son took a tremendous blow to the head."

Tamayo called on the international community to intervene on her behalf, because "there are going to be very many dead on the Embarcadero highway."

More, here, at this link.

Below, pictures of the military presence around her house.

These pictures were taken with a mobile phone on 1 August, brought to La Habana by Reina Luisa and later distributed by Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez.

Open letter to the directors of all accredited media in La Habana

2010-08-09T00:01:00.003-04:00

Dear Sir or Madam:

We write to you worried about the police and paramilitary harassment denounced from Banes ―a small town in the Cuban province of Holguín― by Reina Luisa Tamayo. She is the mother of Orlando Zapata Tamayo the prisoner of conscience who died on 23 February after a prolonged hunger strike that up to its tragic and fatal outcome had little coverage in the international press.

Every Sunday, we receive, mostly through phone interviews broadcast by the US-based Radio Martí, the same report from Reina Luisa describing how she is beaten, insulted and how [the government directed mob] prevents her from going to the town’s church to pray for her son and the health of all Cuban political prisoners still in jail. The repressive organs of the Cuban regime also impede her to visit her son’s tomb.

It is surprising to us that despite the wide coverage dedicated to Cuban topics, your organization has not reported on this. We know of the limitations to movement within Cuba, but we also understand that any foreign reporter has the means and resources to travel to the Eastern part of the island and give an eyewitness report of what happens there, in front of Reina Luisa Tamayo’s home.

We do not wish to tell the media what they should do, but to share with you our concern for the life of a woman who has lost her son in unjust circumstances and is clamoring for the world’s help to avoid more deaths.

We, the promoters of the #OZT: I accuse the Cuban government Campaign that demands the unconditional and immediate release of all peaceful political prisoners in Cuba and the respect of all Cubans’ human rights; write to you because we know that the international press in Cuba not only bears witness to what happens there, but can also help prevent and stop harassment incidents like those suffered by the Ladies in White in March of this year.

We would also like to know if there is any kind of legal hindrance or of any other sort that prevents your reporter in La Habana from traveling to other regions of Cuba.

We thank you in advance for your reply.

Sincerely,

#OZT: I accuse the Cuban government Campaign

Repression continues and intensifies in Cuba

2010-08-08T08:25:00.001-04:00

Human Rights Cuba reports:

On the 16th anniversary of the Maleconazo, a large scale protest that took place in Havana in 1994 due to public discontent over food shortages and energy blackouts, Cuba’s repressive forces conducted a massive arrest of human rights activists and independent journalists.

The arrested were detained, beaten, interrogated and later released. This took place yesterday near the U.S. Interests Section building on Cuba’s waterfront known as the Malecon. Among the arrested were human rights activists who wanted to peacefully mark the anniversary and independent journalists who were trying to enter the building to use the internet on their scheduled appointment day and time.

Those arrested were:

Alfredo Guilleuma “El Viejo Alfredo”, an elderly Human Rights Activist
Carmelo Rodríguez Rodríguez, Human Rights Activist and member of the Movimiento Línea Dura “Orlando Zapata Tamayo”
Daniel Anselmo Gonzalez, Independent Journalist and Vice President of the Comision for Assistance to Political Prisoners and their Families (CAPPF)
Ernesto Rodríguez López, Human Rights Activist
Enrique Labrada, Human Rights Activist
Hector Julio Cesar Cedeño, Blogger and Independent Journalist
Heriberto Liranza Romero, Human Rights Activist and member of the Movimiento Cubano de Jóvenes por la Democracia
Hermogenes Inocencio Guerrero, Human Rights Activist and Vice President of Naturpaz
Hidelbrando Chaviano, Blogger and Independent Journalist
Hugo Damian Prieto Blanco, President of the Movimiento Línea Dura “Orlando Zapata Tamayo”
Joel Lázaro Carbonell, Blogger and Independent Journalist and President of the Organización de Derechos Humanos Cubanos Libres
Jose Alberto Alvarez Bravo, Blogger and Independent Journalist
Juan Carlos Basallo Fregio, Human Rights Activist and member of the Partido Liberal de la República de Cuba
Juan Mario Rodríguez, Human Rights Activist
Julio Antonio Rojas Portal, Blogger and Independent Journalist
Omar Lafita Rojas, Independent Journalist and Attorney
Roby Gonzalez Torres, Independent Journalist and member of the Comision for Assistance to Political Prisoners and their Families (CAPPF)
Ruben Carty Lowe, Blogger and Independent Journalist who is the Director of Centro Informativo Cubano
Silvio Benítez Márquez, Independent Journalist and President of the Partido Liberal de la República de Cuba

Other activists were also detained and arrested whose names were not available at the time this information was reported.

(H/T Marc Masferrer)

Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso: "Cuba is not changing"

2010-08-08T08:17:00.000-04:00

Video from Al-Jazeera:

“Némesis” and the art of the emblem

2010-08-07T22:57:00.000-04:00

Andrea Alciato had discovered in his emblem number eleven a singular way to represent silence: a man in a library, seated at a desk covered in folia looks at the spectator, and with his index finger on his lips, demands silence from the latter. Below, still part of the engraving, there is a text in Latin that calls for prudence. It is at this confluence where image and text create an allegory.

This has been my favorite emblem, starting one day when I believed to have found images alone lacking. Many things have happened since, and I was suspicious of images and had understood, as the creator of that emblem, I think understood that only through the union of image and text could there be a construct that spelled out a truth and included a picture.

One day, Orlando Zapata dies. I search for his image, and found it, but it is a photograph of very poor quality. Therefore, although I had an idea of what his face looked like, it was always in an abstract, blurry manner. This photographic document is also an identification one. The photo seems to have been taken from a [Cuban] identification booklet. I felt crushed when I realized this because this image is not a memory. It is simply an instrument of control, a way to be identified, but by the police.

Apparently, Orlando did not have many photographs. There are two others on the internet, but they are also of low resolution. Paradoxically, it is this image, the one taken to excise control over him, that in some way has become an emblem of his liberty, or more accurately, of Liberty.

Later, I decided to create “Némesis”, a performance piece that consists of projecting that very same photograph on the facades of buildings that shelter representatives of the [Cuban] dictatorship. One of the difficulties I found during the performance was precisely the bad quality of the image, mostly to project it from a certain distance and still keep Zapata’s face recognizable. I think that in some way, and not without some difficulty, this was finally achieved.

A few days ago, (still unsatisfied with this image) I decided to use it as a model, and try to paint a portrait. It was not an easy task because it lacks detail, volume, etc. I had to imagine many things about this face. Today, I have finished the emblem: the portrait is the image; Orlando Zapata is its text.

All who so wish can use this image-emblem. It is my gift to all who desire Liberty for Cuba.

Geandy Pavón

The “#OZT: I Accuse the Cuban Government” campaign asks Raul Castro to abandon his lying and petty outdated rhetoric against the peaceful opposition

2010-08-04T10:28:00.002-04:00

August 4th, 2010 - The “#OZT: I Accuse the Cuban Government” campaign, which has gathered more than 52 thousands signatures worldwide demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all Cuban political prisoners, laments that Castro regime has lost again an opportunity to show its will to change in order to respect the individual freedoms of all Cubans. The recent declarations of Raul Castro, in which he assures that “there will be no impunity” for the “counterrevolutionaries,” whom he brands “enemies of the motherland” is the evident proof that nothing has changed in Cuba with the announcement of the release from prison of 52 peaceful dissidents, of which 32 still remain behind bars while the other 20 have been automatically deported to Spain.

The language used by Castro to refer to these people, who have not committed any other crime than dissenting peacefully of the status quo, shows that there’s not even a hint of a will on the side of the regime to amend a modus operandi that has violated systematically the fundamental rights of all Cubans for more than fifty years.

The “#OZT: I Accuse the Cuban Government” considers scandalous the statement of Raul Castro in which he considers “sacred” the alleged achievements of the regime and in which ha affirms that the defense “of streets and squares” will continue because “it will continue to be the duty of the revolutionaries, and we cannot deprive them of that right.” We consider that these statements are only meant to justify the reproachable “acts of repudiation” and the daily abuse inflicted upon all who don’t share the opinion that the regime pretends to impose on them. This campaign considers that for the process of release of political prisoner to be believable, the Castro regime must abandon its lying and petty outdated rhetoric against the peaceful opposition.

This campaign insists on its demand to the regime to release immediately and unconditionally all Cuban political prisoners, without imposing deportation as the condition to their release. We also insist on reminding democratic governments and NGOs throughout the world to not validate a false and deceitful process of releasing political prisoners, designed to diminish the pressure on the Cuban dictatorship, and that does not guarantee the respect of all human rights for the Cuba population inside and outside of the island.

Zapata Lives

2010-08-02T10:40:00.003-04:00

Castro forces dissidents to accept exile as the price of release from his dungeons.

The announcement last month that Cuba would exile 52 political prisoners currently in jail was supposed to help repair the regime’s international image in the wake of the death of Orlando Zapata.

It’s not working. The 21 who have already arrived in Spain are speaking out about the hell hole run by Castro that is Cuba. And at least 10 are refusing to leave the country. Zapata lives.

In December 2009, Zapata, who had been rotting in a rat-infested prison cell and repeatedly tortured for almost seven years, launched a hunger strike on behalf of Cuba’s prisoners of conscience. He was protesting the unjust incarceration of nonviolent dissidents and the cruelty inside the dungeons. The regime desperately tried to break him, even refusing him water for a time. This led to kidney failure and his death on Feb. 23.

Zapata’s passing sparked international outrage, and on July 7 the regime yielded to the pressure. It agreed to release the independent journalists, writers and democracy advocates who had been jailed during the 2003 crackdown on dissent, known as the Black Spring.

Yet only the naïve could read Castro’s forced acquiescence as a break with tyranny. It is instead a cynical ploy to clean the face of a dictatorship. It is also an effort to reclaim respectability for the world’s pro-Castro politicians, including Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos. No one understands this better than the former prisoners.

Those sent to Spain have not hidden their joy about getting out of Cuban jails. “There are no words to fairly describe how amazed and excited I was when I saw myself free and next to my wife and daughter again,” Normando Hernández González told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a telephone interview. But Mr. Hernández, an independent journalist, hasn’t minced words about Cuban repression either.

In a telephone interview with Miami’s Radio Republica, he talked about his “indescribable” time in jail. “It’s crime upon crime, the deep hatred of the Castro regime toward everyone who peacefully dissents. It is a unique life experience that I do not wish upon my worst enemy.”

The regime tried to spruce up the former prisoners by dressing them in neatly pressed trousers, white shirts and ties. But they brought tales of horror to Spain. Ariel Sigler, a labor organizer who went into prison seven years ago a healthy man but is now confined to a wheel chair, arrived in Miami on Wednesday.

These graphic reminders of Castro’s twisted mind have been bad for Mr. Moratinos’s wider agenda, which is to use the release of the prisoners to convince the European Union to abandon its “common position” on Cuba. Adopted in 1996, it says that the EU seeks “in its relations with Cuba” to “encourage a process of transition to pluralist democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as a sustainable recovery and improvement in the living standards of the Cuban people.” Mr. Moratinos’s desire to help Fidel end the common position is a source of anger among Cuban dissidents.

The former prisoners also resent their exile, after, as Mr. Hernández puts it, “being kidnapped for seven years.” He explained to Radio Republica: “The more logical outcome would be, ‘Yes, you are freeing me. Free me to my home. Free me so I won’t be apart from my sister, from my family, from my people, from my neighbors.’” Instead he says he was “practically forced” to go to Spain in exchange for getting out of jail, and to get health care for his daughter and himself.

Cuba’s horrendous prison conditions are no secret. In his chilling memoir “Against All Hope” (1986, 2001), Armando Valladares cataloged the brutality he experienced first hand as a prisoner of conscience for 22 years. A steady stream of exiles have echoed his claims. But another bit of cruelty is less well understood: For a half century the regime has let political prisoners out of jail only if they sign a paper saying they have been “rehabilitated” or, when the regime is under pressure, if they agree to leave the island. Getting rid of the strong-willed, while being patted on the back for their “release,” has been Castro’s win-win.

Now some prisoners are refusing to deal. Ten of the 52, including Óscar Elías Biscet, famous for his pacifism, say they will not accept exile as a condition of release. These brave souls remain locked up.

Of course, if they are released and allowed to stay home, the same “crimes” that landed them in prison are likely to do so again. A particular hazard for dissidents is Article 72 of the Orwellian Cuban criminal code, which says that “any person shall be deemed dangerous” if he has “shown a proclivity to commit crimes demonstrated by conduct that is in manifest contradiction with the norms of socialist morality.”

Cuban dissidents claim there are hundreds and perhaps thousands of prisoners locked up for “dangerousness,” “contempt” and other crimes of dissent. No one knows for sure. But shipping a few dozen out of the country doesn’t qualify as a step toward civilized government. The memory of Zapata demands much more.

Mary Anastasia O'Grady, The Wall Street Journal

H/T: Penúltimos Días

Report on the raid against human rights activists in Cuba

2010-07-31T14:48:00.004-04:00

On Friday, April 23rd, a group of human rights activists had planned on delivering at the headquarters of the Cuban Parliament the declaration of the “#OZT: I accuse the Cuban government,” alongside the more than 52 thousand signatures from all over the world that support the demand for an immediate and unconditional release of all Cuban political prisoners.

A police raid under which several citizens were banned from leaving their houses and others were arrested when they were in the nearing their destination, impeded that these signatures reach the National Assembly of the People (ANPP, in Spanish), a form of government that, from many years, had the motto “the power of the people, that is the real power.”

What follows is the report from the coordinator of the illegal party Cuba Independiente y Democrática (Cuba Independent and Democratic, CID, in Spanish), regarding the raid against the human rights activists and peaceful dissidents:

Repression against the members of CID for the delivery to the Cuban Parliament of the signatures gathered by the “#OZT: I accuse the Cuban government” campaign

In commemoration of the fifth month of the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, the “#OZT: I accuse the Cuban government” campaign collected 51168 signatures worldwide condemning the premeditated assassination of the prisoner of conscience and demanding the release of all Cuban political prisoners. These signatures were attempted to be delivered at several Cuban consulates and embassies around the world and a team of activists of the (illegal) party Cuba Independiente y Democrática (CID) planned on delivering then on July 23rd at 10:30 am at the headquarters of the Cuban Parliament, located on Avenue 42, between 23rd and 25th Streets, in the municipality of Playa, Havana.

Here’s a detailed account of what happened to the activists of CIF from July 22nd -24th.

July 22nd, 2010

At 6:00 pm, the Departamento de Seguridad del Estado (the political police, DSE, in Spanish) ordered the house arrest of Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco, a delegate of CID in the municipality of La Lisa and President of the hard-line and boicot platform “Orlando Zapata Tamayo”, as well as to Lazara Bárbara Sendiña Recalde, neighbors of 89 Street # 21410 between 214 y 216, in the municipality of La Lisa, for which a large number of policemen were deployed around their house, impeding the access to any pro democracy activists and checking the passersby against their ID cards, asking where they were going; besides they interrupted the home and cell phone lines of Yasnely Gainza Sendiña, daughter of Lazara Bárbara Sendiña Recalde, from9:25 pm, of July 22nd till 6:00 pm, of July 25th. The cell phone of Ricardo Santiago Medina Salabarria, Secretary of Attention to Political Prisoners, as well as the mobile lines of Katia Sonia Martín Véliz, coordinator of CID in the western part of the island, and her aunt, Amelia Véliz Pérez, until after 8:00pm of July 23rd. In the municipality of La Lisa, at around 6:00pm, Luís Enrique Labrador Ruíz, activist of CID was kidnapped by the Political police, while he was getting a haircut.

July 23rd, 2010

At 7:00 am, “Pavel”, an officer of the Political police showed on the streets a judicial order of house arrest against Ricardo Santiago Medina Salabarria, Secretary of Attention to Political Prisoners, and his wife, Katia Sonia Martín Véliz, coordinator of CID, signed and approved by a fiscal of the headquarters of the political police “Villa Marista;” but he refused to let them read the act, alleging they could destroy it. This very officer told them that there were seventy (70) agents, armed with sticks, with orders to beat them and even kill them if that were necessary, because the Castro brothers were very upset with the subversive activities of the CID. At that time, Abdel Rodríguez Arteaga, delegate of CID in Havana y Aimé Cabrales Aguilar, Attention to Political Prisoners in Havana were at the house of Ricardo and Katia. At 10:00 am, Katia went to the corner and agent “Pavel,” surprised, told agent “Ariel,” who was the other one assigned to the entrance of their building: “let her come back.” Ricardo, Aimé and Abdel were able to exit the apartment and shout out loud the reason why they were prevented from exiting, managing to catch the attention of neighbors and passersby. Katia was dragged by force to the interior staircase that leads to her apartment.
Elizabeth Linda Nañonga Kawooya Toca (who is 6 months pregant), wife of Lisbán Hernández Sánchez, delegate of CID in the municipality of Centro Habana was impeded from arriving to the apartment of Katia and Ricardo. Someone was able to make a phone call to inform the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN, in Spanish) to let them know what was happening.
An order of house arrest was also issued against Richard Morera Ramos, with residence in San José Street # 17714 between América and Aleja, Guardiola neighborhood, in the municipality of San Miguel del Padrón, Havana; the same for Jorge Félix Candelario Martínez, delegate of CID in the municipality of Habana del Este, with residence in building H-62, Apt. 15, Zone 14, Alamar, and Aramís Tudela Pérez, Attention to Political Prisoners in the municipality of Habana del Este, with residence in building H-54, Apt. 13, Zone 14, Alamar. Their buildings were heavily watched by numerous political police agents.

The following activists were arrested as they approached the area of the headquarters of the Cuban Parliament, located in 42nd Avenue and 25th Street, in the municipality of Playa: Lázaro José de la Nodal Usín, vice delegate of CID in the municipality of La Lisa, who was then taken to the 4th Unit of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR, in Spanish), located in the corner of Infanta and Amenidad, in the municipality of Cerro, and then taken on July 24th to the Departamento de Técnicas Investigativas (a branch of the political police, DTI in Spanish). Eduardo Pérez Flores, activist, was taken to the 4th Unit of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR, in Spanish), located in the corner of Infanta and Amenidad, in the municipality of Cerro, and released after 24 hours, Francisco Sa Fuster, activist, was released after 4pm of July 23rd. Lisbán Hernández Sánchez, a resident of Centro Habana, was taken to the police unit located in the corner of Zanja and Dragones, and placed in a cell with transsexuals infected with HIV, who claimed the police to get him out there; one of the transsexuals was bleeding from the wounds of a sex transplant. Robmer Gálvez Urrutia, activist in the municipality of 10 de octubre, was taken to the police unit of of Zanja and Dragones, in Centro Habana. Leydis Coca Quesada, vice delegate in the municipality of Playa, was released near her house. Niurka Caridad Ortega Cruz, delegate in the municipality of Boyeros, was taken in police car #315 and release in Vía Blanca highway, in the border of provinces Havana and Matanzas. During the time of their arrests, they all kept a hunger strike, refusing also to drink water. Luís Enrique Labrador Ruíz, activist of CID in the municipality of La Lisa, who was originally arrested and taken to the 5th police unit of the PNR, located in 7th Avenue and 62 Street, in the municipality of Playa, from 6:00 pm on July 22nd until 4:00 pm on July 23rd, was then taken to the police unit located in the corner of Zanja and Dragones, in the municipality of Centro Habana, where he spent all his time shouting anti-establishment slogans and “Zapata lives!” until he lost his voice. He was release after 6:00 pm on July 23rd. At 6:00 pm, the officer of the political police activated the phone line of Katia’s house and told her that the house arrest order had been lifted. At that time, Ricardo and Abdel contacted the CCDHRN.

July 24th 2010

Finally at 1:30 pm, Katia Sonia Martín Véliz, made a phone call to the “Section 21” of the political police, explaining to them that a group of 16 activists of CID was in front of the police unit at the corner of Zanja and Dragones awaiting the release of the arrested activists and that if they weren’t released they’d protest in front of the police unit demanding that they be set free. “Section 21” approved the release of Sergio García Argentel and Lisbán Hernández Sánchez, after 2:00 pm, of July 24th; then, past 6:00 pm, Robmer Gálvez Urrutia was released. Lázaro José de la Noval Usín, vice delegate of CID in the municipality of La Lisa, was under arrest in the DTI in the municipality of 10 de octubre until after 8:00pm of Sunday, July 25th.

Major Pedro Chávez, instructor in the political police heaquarters of Villa Marista, drove his car, a blue Lada, against Ricardo Santiago Medina Salabarria, in the corner of Matadero and Calzada del Cerro, at 5:45 pm.

Katia Sonia Martín Véliz
Coordinadotor of CID in the Western Region of Cuba

Cuban jails: human horror

2010-07-31T11:28:00.000-04:00

The Miami Herald and other McClatchy newspapers reproduce today a report by Fabiola Santiago based on the testimonials of the Cuban political prisoners recently deported to Spain. Here are some fragments:

About the food they were given daily for seven years:

A hairy heap of ground pig eyes, cheek, ears, and other unidentifiable parts served as a main course.

The meal, nicknamed patipanza, is one of the typical dishes served in Cuban prisons, according to political prisoners freed and expatriated to the Spanish capital under an agreement negotiated by the Roman Catholic Church and the Spanish government.

"They didn't even bother to take the hairs off the animal's skin and it stank," says Mijail Bárzaga, 43, who spent seven years in four Cuban prisons.

In the Havana prison El Pitirre, where he spent two years, the food was more edible than in the others, Bárzaga said, but the portions of rice, watery picadillo and pea stew served to the prisoners kept getting smaller and smaller.

"The guards would steal from our portions, they would steal from the prison ministry to feed their families and to sell in the black market," Bárzaga said. "To steal from a man in prison who can't do anything about getting himself nourishment is denigrating -- the lowest point of humanity."

Often there was dirt at the bottom of the boiled concoctions. Other times, worms and bugs in the food.

"Kafka couldn't have written it worse," said Ricardo González Alfonso, an independent journalist sentenced to 20 years after his arrest in the Black Spring of 2003.

The cells in which they were kept:

Small prison cells became filthy with overflowing feces. Rats, cockroaches and scorpions shared their jail cells, Julio César Gálvez said.

Just when the prisoners and their families adjusted to a prison, they were transferred.

"I was constantly moved from prison to prison and my family couldn't visit me," said José Luis García Paneque, a plastic surgeon who was a burly, 190-pound man when he was sent to prison and now weighs 101 pounds.

Paneque takes a reporter's notebook and drew a sketch of one of his prison cells -- a hole on the floor that served as toilet and shower, a sink with a spigot turned on only a few minutes a day, a metal bed with a thin foam mattress.

"The cells are all the same -- tiny, windowless," he said.

The solitary cells, used for punishment, were even worse.

On coexisting with common prisoners:

Being among criminals posed a threat, but the political prisoners said they earned their respect by explaining to them why they were in prison.

"We gave them a political education and they were helpful to us," Bárzaga said.

When he first arrived in a Villa Clara prison, he added, there were no utensils available. The presos comunes -- those in prison for common, rather, than political, crimes -- made him a spoon from a can and a cup from a cut-up water bottle.

Some of the common prisoners helped the political ones smuggle out letters and documents denouncing conditions

Human horror:

The political prisoners also witnessed how common prisoners resorted to drastic measures, making themselves ill -- setting fires to their mattresses and wrapping themselves in them, cutting their eyeballs -- to get a guard's attention to be sent to the infirmary.

"I saw a prisoner inject excrement in his veins. Nobody told me this, I saw it with my own eyes,'' said Omar M. Ruiz Hernández. "They sewed their mouths with wire. They do all this to protest the conditions, to get something they've been denied."

Read it all, share it, spread the word, and help us fight for the freedom of all remaining Cuban political prisoners, and for the respect of human rights and dignity in the archipelago.

Jorge Castañeda: "Fariñas [...] achieved what no one has done before."

2010-07-30T09:04:00.000-04:00

The Miami Herald reproduces this The New York Times article by former Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Castañeda regarding the latest political developments in Cuba:

The Castros blink

BY JORGE G. CASTANEDA
jorgecastaneda.org

Finally, someone in Cuba went eyeball to eyeball with the Castro brothers, and they blinked.

On July 7, Guillermo Fariñas, a dissident on a hunger strike for more than four months, achieved what no one has done before. Through a combination of careful confrontation, personal fortitude and international support, Fariñas forced Raúl Castro to negotiate with Cuba's Roman Catholic Church -- which led to the immediate release of five political prisoners, with 47 more to follow over the next four months.

Of course, this is not the first time that the Cuban regime has freed political prisoners. The many other instances were almost always in exchange for political and economic concessions.

In 1978, Fidel Castro allowed more than 3,000 jailed dissidents to leave for the United States after a group of exiled Cubans from Miami visited Havana. Many in the Miami group subsequently advocated for ending the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

In 1984, Castro freed 26 prisoners; in 1996, three; and in 1998, more than 80, after visits from, respectively, Jesse Jackson, Bill Richardson and Pope John Paul II, according to The Miami Herald's Andres Oppenheimer.

Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos desperately tried to play a role in the Fariñas case. But this time, the circumstances were different. Fariñas was willing to die for his demands; he saw how they were, in a sense, reinforced by the death of another hunger striker, Orlando Zapata, last February.

The Castros knew that Fariñas would die, too, if they didn't accept his demands, and that his death would make any improvement in relations with the European Union or President Obama even more difficult to acheive.

The island's economic situation has gone from dire to worse in recent times. Raúl Castro recognized that, without a rapprochement, he couldn't achieve whatever changes he might hope to make -- hence the dialogue with the church and the release of the prisoners.

Despite Fariñas' courage and political skill, the significance of the agreement between Cuba's Cardinal Jaime Ortega and Raúl Castro is modest.

• First, circumstances may change during the four months that will pass before all the prisoners on the list are freed. Meanwhile, the remaining prisoners are still hostage to the Castros' dealings with the church and possibly the European Union.

• Second, an additional 100 political prisoners in Cuba, and perhaps many more, are not included in the agreement. [The government has since indicated it may free all political prisoners, but that has not been confirmed.]

• Third, articles 72 and 73 of the Cuban criminal code, which establish the notion of ``dangerousness'' -- an outrageously inexplicit word that has been denounced by Human Rights Watch -- are still on the books.

According to Cuban law, anybody can be jailed at any time, even before committing a crime, if they are perceived to have a penchant for doing so. And political opposition to the regime is a crime.

• Finally, it is unclear whether the 52 dissidents will be freed in Cuba or deported to Spain and elsewhere. Fidel Castro has used expulsion from his homeland as a political instrument for more than half a century, with great success.

Whether the church and Spain should lend themselves to this ploy is debatable. Even ``voluntary'' exile is a non sequitur: Asking political prisoners in poor health to sign a statement that they will willingly accept exile is hardly magnanimous or ethical.

Most important, however, is whether small gestures like the new agreement alter the human-rights situation in Cuba and represent the beginning of a transition in Cuban politics.

Jose Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director of Human Rights Watch, hit the mark when he said that he could not congratulate a government for freeing people who should never have been jailed.

The real issue is whether there is any justification for the survival of a regime that acknowledges the existence of political prisoners, uses them as bargaining chips and needs to be forced by dead or dying hunger strikers to liberate any of them. Little can be done to change this situation until the Cuban people decide they have had enough. Meanwhile, voters should question their leaders' having any dealings with the Cuban regime.

UPDATED: Guillermo Fariñas discharged from hospital

2010-07-29T11:34:00.001-04:00

Cuban blogger Claudia Cadelo, informs through Twitter that Guillermo Fariñas has been discharged from hospital, and is at home.

There were no details on his current condition, but we will update the post as soon we obtain further them.

UPDATE: Italian news agency ANSA informs in Spanish details his discharge from hospital. It states that Fariñas will have to use a wheelchair due to a neuropathy caused by his 135 day long hunger strike (his 23rd) and that he still suffers from a clot in one of his carotids that will take years to treat.

The opposition activist told the reporter that because of his motor limitations, he will continue his work as an independent journalist from his home.

We are happy to see Fariñas out of hospital, albeit not completely healthy. We will monitor his situation, and wish him a speedy recovery. And, we are most grateful to this great Cuban for his fearless fight, for risking his own life for the release of Cuban political prisoners.

Cuban consulate in Seville, Spain, receives the more than 52,000 signatures for freedom

2010-07-28T15:32:00.000-04:00

A group led by Ana Fuentes, member of this campaign’s organizing team, has successfully delivered the more than 52,000 signatures supporting our Declaration for the Freedom if Cuban Political Prisoners at the Cuban consulate in Seville, Spain. This is the first successful delivery after we announced the start of such deliveries. Other similar efforts have been met with rejection and resistance (in one case, physcally violent) by the regime’s representatives in La Habana, Madrid, Barcelona, Montréal and New York.

In Seville, it was possible to deliver the signatures to a Spanish administrative employee at the consulate. The Cuban diplomats refused to come out to receive them, but told the Spaniard to accept them.

In the group there were several Cubans, and among them was Eddie Fernández a participant of Pedro Pan Operation, as well as several Sevilleans, including a lady representing the Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo [Association of Victims of Terrorism].

A reporter for the local El Correo newspaper was also present.

Ariel Sigler Amaya has arrived in Miami

2010-07-28T15:31:00.002-04:00

The Miami Herald informs that Ariel Sigler Amaya has arrived in Miami.

The newspaper reports on his statements to the press before departing La Habana:

"I'm going, looking to regain my health," he told reporters at the Havana airport before boarding his flight. "When I arrive in Miami . . . they are waiting for me and will take me to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where I hope to regain my strength."
Sigler said he eventually planned to return to Cuba "because this government's days are numbered."

"This dictatorship has very little time left," he said, "and I think this will be a temporary departure."

Argus Press photo showing Sigler Amaya's wife, Noelia, carrying him to a different wheelchair after arriving at José Martí International Airport in La Habana before departing for Miami this morning

Dr. Darsi Ferrer: " It is very sad to see a country’s youth behind bars, living in cruel and deforming conditions, surviving as non-persons."

2010-07-28T00:59:00.001-04:00

Marc Masferrer reproduces some fragments of an interview with Dr. Darsi Ferrer by Cuban independent journalist Juan Carlos González Leiva originally published on Payo Libre.

This is our translation:

Juan Carlos González Leiva: How is the health of Darsi Ferrer?

Dr. Darsi: First, I would like to say that I am very happy with your visit. One comes out of prison affected [by psychological issues] but I am in better spirits.

JC: According to [the regime’s] accusations [against you], you should have received a 3 year sentence. To what do you attribute your premature release?

Dr. Darsi: Many factors contributed to, and resulted in my release. In first place, [there was the] recognition of my status as a prisoner of conscience by that prestigious institution, Amnesty International, for what I will be eternally grateful. Also, [there was] the immense solidarity from the international black movement, and, of course, the solidarity of my Cuban brothers, here and in exile.

JC: What does Valle Grande prison represent to you?

Dr Darsi: This is a prison for those who are in preventive custody [not tried yet], [but] despite that it does not differ from [all] other Cuban penitentiaries. Life conditions are totally subhuman and the penal population suffers the cruelest and most inhumane treatments. For example, medical attention is almost [non-existent] because in spite of having doctors on staff, [in reality] they do not exist, neither is there equipment to perform a hemoglobin or glycemic test. Everything is a [smoke] screen [and] that is why there are inevitable deaths. Only in the past 11 months, three inmates died there for that reason. Overcrowding is terrible in the 18 galleys. They are 35 meters long by 5 meters wide, [and] there 120 inmates survive with only half a meter of vital space for each one of them. Many of them have to sleep on the floor because there are not enough beds.

Hygiene is horrible, they only run the water for a few minutes three times a day, every other day, and the heat is unbearable. Infectious diseases are very frequent, it is enough that one inmate gets sick [for the rest to be infected]. Contact with the family is limited to two hours once a month. The psychological trauma is very big. The scarce nourishment is of terrible quality and does not satisfy the needs of any human organism. As protein, they give you a tiny piece of chicken every 15 days. The rest of the food is a [disgusting mix] that is regularly [given to the prisoners] in state of decomposition. This brings lots of diseases and health problems.

The mistreatment and the horrible conditions make the inmates aggressive. There are frequent fights. Corruption is rampant. The guards are more criminals than the inmates are, and they have several inmates in their fold who control all their illicit businesses for their own personal benefit, and the most lethal are used to impose discipline. The guards are the ones that facilitate the sale of rum and the high drug use. Religious assistance and freedom of worship are not allowed. There are several disabled [inmates] [whose conditions] are incompatible with the prison system. I met blind, deaf and some in wheelchairs. In the political prisoners’ case, they survive in constant danger since the guards constantly encourage assassins to harass them and attack them. It is Hell, a nightmare that if you do not experience it, you cannot imagine how horrible the Cuban jail system is.

JC: Could it be said that Cuban jails are centers of terror?

Dr. Darsi: Prisons here make up such a gruesome picture that words cannot describe it in all of its magnitude. This is the reason why the government does not allow monitoring by the [UN’s] Rapporteur Against Torture, His Excellency Manfred Nowak. [They] have much to hide. The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners are not respected at all, and even national laws are violated daily in there.

JC: What is the number of prisoners inside Valle Grande prison right now?

Dr. Darsi: There are 18 galleys with a total penal population around 2000 inmates. It must be noted that, as I said, this is a prison for [those] awaiting trial, and it is the only one that receives those who are under [arrest awaiting trial] in all of the [province of] Ciudad de La Habana. Almost every day, around 80 to 100 new inmates are admitted, which is incredible. Of course, this does not include those already sentenced who are sent directly to other penitentiaries. In other words, the number of Cubans who are sent to prison daily is alarming. That is why I can assure [anyone] that the Cuban penal population is not 100,000 inmates as it has been said until now, but that it is well above 200,000 convicts. It is such an amazing [uncontrolled growth] that it forces the government to hide it.

JC: Could it then be stated that more than 500 people are incarcerated each week only in La Habana?

Dr. Darsi: I do not say 500 people, but a much higher number because one has to take into account the prisons for women that are 4 or 5; the juvenile prisons, and the uncountable penitentiaries in the city and province of La Habana. The Combinado del Este prison alone keeps around 5000 inmates behind bars. These are the reasons why I call on all people and institutions around the world to make an even greater effort to help humanize the Cuban jail system, alleviating the suffering of hundreds of thousands of convicts and their families.

JC: What are the race and age characteristics of the penal population at Valle Grande?

Dr. Darsi: Around 80% are black and more than 70% of the total is not over the age of 25. It is very sad to see a country’s youth behind bars, living in cruel and deforming conditions, surviving as non-persons.

JC: Marxism books state that criminality is a leftover from capitalism; however, Cuban convicts are in their vast majority young and black, born after the revolution. How can this be explained?

Dr. Darsi: The lack of opportunities, the arbitrariness, the injustices…I would say that they [affect] all the same. What happens is that for cultural and economic reasons, blacks were behind [everyone else] when the revolution triumphed, in other words, blacks were behind, and blacks were left much further behind later. Today are blacks the one who live in “solares” [tenements], those who are barred from hotels and those who are not [represented] in the [highest] political [levels]. It is enough to say that in a country where surviving is hard for everyone, those issues are tenfold for blacks. All of this forces blacks to be linked to issues like the black market. They go beyond what is tolerated by the authorities and remain in [extreme poverty] being much more alienated, discriminated against and displaced than whites. This is a grave problem because this is not a [mainly] Caucasian society. Cuba is a country where he who does not have Congo [blood] has [that] of Carabalis. We are a racial “ajiaco” [stew], despite the government’s efforts to reinforce the idea that black is negative. This is why blacks in prison receive the worst treatment and contempt from the guards. I can conclude by stating that blacks have been thrown by the so-called revolution into the lowest sectors of [Cuban] public life.

JC: What is the explanation for the use of drugs and alcohol at Valle Grande?

Dr. Darsi: The average salary of the guards is extremely low. They live in misery as well, that is why most of the practice corruption. Inside of the prisons, corruption is huge. It is precisely the guards who own this business of alcohol and prescription drugs sales. It is they who bring those noxious substances to the penitentiaries around the country. It is incredible and scandalous, but tremendously real. These are the direct causes of the frequent fights and murders. Furthermore, under the influence of alcohol and drugs, the inmates mutilate themselves or inject [themselves with the] AIDS [virus] with syringes supplied by the guards. One day, I saw the guards bringing six AIDS patients into my galley and left them to live with us. Some had bleeding wound since they had hurt themselves. Logically we were all [exposed] to the risk [of infection].

JC: What treatment receive those who are physically and mentally disabled at Valle Grande?

Dr. Darsi: They are victims of the worst treatments because since they are sick, they do things that irritate the guards.

JC: How would you describe your trial?

Dr. Darsi: I was tried behind closed doors by the Municipal Tribunal of Diez de Octubre [a municipality in La Habana] this past 22 June, and sentenced to 1 year and 3 months of prison. [During the trial] Security of State cordoned off the area [surrounding the tribunal] and subjected me to a biased process, lacking any [due process]. They tried me 11 months after my arrest, and they sentenced me after I had already served the time, on the trumped up charges of “Sabotage and receipt [of stolen merchandise]” that implies that I must serve another three months in this sort of house arrest. I do not accept this condition, and I am ready to be sent back to prison whenever the political police would want because I am innocent and my trial was nothing but a circus. My family, friends and neighbors could attend.

JC: Do you continue to have the same dreams?

Dr. Darsi: Cuba continues to be a large jail, and our people still lives the same drama of the destruction of all their freedoms and rights. This is what motivates me to continue fighting for democracy and [the rule of law]. I am 40 years old, and I do not know freedom. I move forward with even more emphasis so that soon Cuba becomes a place of happiness, prosperity and opportunities for all.

Ariel Sigler Amaya arrives in Miami

2010-07-28T00:45:00.000-04:00

As we informed last week, Ariel Sigler Amaya arrives in Miami tomorrow (today) 28 July 2010.

A humanitarian fund account has been set-up for him at BB&T Bank of Miami to help with his healthcare costs.

Ariel Sigler -Humanitarian Fund
Acct # 0000148280827

One hundred thousand signatures collected in Italy for the freedom of Cuban political prisoners

2010-07-26T17:18:00.003-04:00

Italian newspaper Il Giornale, informs [in Italian] that the popular radio show Zapping [Mix It Up] conducted by veteran journalist Aldo Forbice for Radio RAI, has collected one hundred thousand signatures for their campaign Liberiamo i prigionieri politici a Cuba [Free the Cuban Political Prisoners].

Their campaign was announced 12 April 2010, and has just concluded. It coincided with ours and Guillermo Fariñas' 135-day long hunger strike. It has been recognized and "praised by Cuban opposition activists and leaders within and outside of Cuba like Carlos Carralero" and Andria Medina "of Unione per le libertà a Cuba [Union for the Freedom of Cuba], Armando Valladares, Vladimiro Roca", Laura Pollán, and others as a "contributing factor to the recently announced release of 52 political prisoners after the mediation of the Spanish government and the Catholic Church", according to the newspaper article.

Aside from radio, it was also widely y tirelessly promoted on blogs, and the social networks Facebook and Twitter.

The signatures will be delivered to the Cuban embassy in Rome, and sent to Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament.

We extend our congratulations to the Liberiamo i prigionieri politici a Cuba Campaign, and our eternal gratitude for working so diligently for the freedom of all Cuban political prisoners.

RSF interviews Ricardo González Alfonso

2010-07-26T13:31:00.001-04:00

RSF sat with Ricardo González Alfonso, at Motel Welcome in Madrid for an interview on 14 July.

Cafeteria of the Hotel Welcome, where the Spanish government is lodging the 11 Cubans who arrived in Spain on 14 July

Seven of them are journalists and one of the seven is Ricardo González Alfonso, who has been the Reporters Without Borders Cuba correspondent since 1998. He was arrested along with 74 other Cuban dissidents during the notorious “Black Spring” of March 2003 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The Spanish section of Reporters Without Borders went to greet him on his arrival at Madrid’s Barajas airport and, because of the enormous international interest, organised a news conference for him and the other journalists on 17 July.

In the following interview, he talks about his impressions since his release and his plans for the future.

What were your initial feelings on leaving prison?

There have been various feelings. The first is one of being physically in Madrid and mentally still in Cuba. In conversations, I find myself saying ‘here’ and I am referring to Cuba. There was a more intimate and personal feeling, the one I had when I woke up next to my wife for the first time in seven years and four months. In prison, there were conjugal visits ever five months, then every three months and finally every two months, but they were three-hour visits. And you missed waking up beside your wife. But there is a detail that is worth recalling: when I was on the plane flying to Spain, I saw a knife for the first time in a long while. A metal knife. Something very simple but forbidden inside prison. It surprised me. It almost frightened me. Another detail: the emotion you feel facing you first plate of hot food in seven years. It is a jumble of little things that may give an idea of the confusion I feel at this moment, and the need to adapt psychologically to the new circumstances.

How did you experience your release, from the moment you received the news until you left Cuba?

Everything began with a rumour, which I heard in the national prison hospital, where I was being treated for a foot infection. A fellow inmate, a reliable person I trusted, told me that he had heard on the radio (in the Combinado del Este building where he was) that they were going to free 45 prisoners. That was the first news. A little later, in the same hospital, I met another colleague, Julio César Gálvez (another journalist, who was also released). He told me he had heard something similar but he still did not have any details. When I got back to my cell, I asked for the newspaper, Granma, and there I saw that the news was confirmed. It spoke of releases but did not give the names of the chosen detainees.

Later, at around 6 pm on the same day, 8 July, I got a call from Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the archbishop of Havana, telling me that my name was on the list of prisoners who were going to be released and flown to Spain, if I was willing. I said that going to Spain could be interesting. When I met my wife Alida, she was thinking of emigrating to the United States. But I was not contemplating emigrating. So we decided that we would separate when her exit permit arrived (which in Cuba is issued by the interior ministry). But, as the years went by, we became closer and more in love with each other, and Alida’s exit permit did not arrive. Finally, a few days after I was arrested, Alida’s one-way exit permit finally arrived, presumably to get her to abandon me. But she refused to abandon me. She rejected the permit and decided to stay here with me. It was obviously the kind of decision that creates a strong bond between two people, stronger than the initial commitment to each other.

When the releases first began, in the first half of 2005, we talked about it and I told her that, if they released me and then took a year to give me an exit permit, we would stay in Cuba. But if they gave us the exit permit before the year was up, we would leave. Years later, I am a granted a release together with an immediate exit permit. So, I kept the promise I had made to my wife, in response to her loyalty to me, and we decided to emigrate. The first phase was difficult for me, because my younger son from my first marriage did not want to leave his mother, and his mother did not want to emigrate. But her friends and I managed to persuade her. I was fortunate in finally being able to emigrate with the two children from my first marriage, with my wife, of course, and with my children’s mother. So I can say I am one of the few Cubans with all of his family united.

When you were told of your imminent release, did Cardinal Ortega tell you that you could choose between staying in Cuba or leaving?

No, it was very clear. What he told me was that those who left with me would be able to return without a permit. This is exceptional. Any Cuban who emigrates definitively has to apply for a re-entry permit in order to return. This of course violates article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but that is the situation in our country. The cardinal also told me that, for the first time in 50 years, the property I left behind, my home, would not be confiscated. Those were the details he gave me. But he told me I had to take an immediate decision.

In other words, you had to give him your reply in the course of the same phone call?

Yes, at once. The cardinal said that the processing was going to be very fast that not a minute could be lost. I had to give him my reply at once.

The conditions in which you were held for the past seven years, what were they like?

There were various stages. The investigative phase and the trial itself, a total of 36 days, were spent in Villa Marista, the State Security headquarters. The light was on all the time. I had to sleep next to the light in a windowless cell. The water for bathing and drinking was rationed. The interrogations were in the morning, the afternoon, the night and in the early hours. So you had only short spells for sleeping. This went on until the trial. After the trial, the same conditions continued but we were allowed out of our cells in the morning and afternoon and were able to converse, because there was no longer any point interrogating.

We were there until 24 April 2003, when we were sent to the top security prison, Kilo 8 in Camagüey, where the conditions were very harsh. I was in a cell in which, where the bed ends, the little bathroom begin. A cell so narrow that the water store is in this small toilet. There was no shower, just a water tube over the toilet, toilet in inverted commas, what we call a Turkish toilet. That is where you had your breakfast, lunch and dinner and where you received medical attention. From Monday to Friday, when it was not raining, we were allowed into a courtyard where, if I stretched my arms out, I could touch the walls on either side. It was like a cell, but instead of a roof it had bars. If it was noon, you had the sun overhead. At other times, there was glare from the sun. Then the situation changed. We spent three months without electricity. Then we were three months with the light on all the time.

This was all in Camagüey?

Yes, I am still referring to Camagüey’s Kilo 8 prison. It is 533 km from Havana, where my family lived. During the last month, we were able to turn the light off and on. That was a big advantage. While there, I wrote a book of poems called “Man without a face” that reflected all the abuses taking place there. Not just the abuses to which I was being subjected because of my ideals, for defending freedom of expression, but also what the ordinary offenders were undergoing. I was punished for writing the book. They sent me to a special wing holding Cuba’s most dangerous inmates, ones that no other prison accepted, to the point that there were no people in Camagüey province in the prison. They were all from other provinces.

One told me that three of them were there to harass me, to steal things from me and to be verbally abusive. Not physical mistreatment, but verbal aggression, insults and so on. One of them admitted that he had been sent by State Security, that he would be rewarded for the role he was playing. To end this punishment, I was forced to go on hunger strike. I told the authorities that I would call off my hunger strike if they recognised that they were punishing me for writing a book or if they gave me the same treatment as my colleagues, the treatment that I had been receiving before, which was bad but not as bad as this.

Later, when I already had gall-bladder and liver problems, I was sent to Agüica prison, in Matanzas province. I was in poor health all the time I was there. They took me to the national prison hospital several times and I was operated on three times there. From there, I was transferred to Havana’s Combinado del Este prison on 7 December 2004. At first, I was in Building No. 2. Then I was admitted to the hospital again. From there we were sent back to prison without a medical discharge because we had staged a protest. In the final stage, the last two or three years. I had a cell to myself, thanks to the protests and hunger strikes and the international campaign by my wife Alida.

As a result, I managed to obtain conditions that were better than those available to ordinary offenders – the possibility of having my cell door open from 6 am to 6 pm and of having a light that I could turn on and off. As for the rest, it was the prison discipline that everyone has to accept. Except that I refused to wear the ordinary offender’s prison uniform because I was not an ordinary offender. I wore regular clothes. This led to my sister being harassed when she came from New York to visit me. The Cuban political police pressured her at Havana’s José Martí airport to try to persuade me to wear prison uniform. She was 71 at the time and they put her under so much psychological stress that she fainted.

What can you tell us about the food and the hygiene in the prisons where you were held?

Here again there were phases. For example, when I was in the windowless cell in Camagüey and being punished for going on hunger strike, the floor had a carpet of rodents. It was part of the punishment. My bed was just two steps from my toilet. The ceilings of the cells were incredibly damp. I saw this in all the prisons where I have been, without exception. There was so much humidity that we used plastic bags to channel the water leaking from the pipes so that it did not drip on us while we were sleeping or eating. Using Cuban ingenuity, the inmates made channels for the water by tying plastic bags. The walls were permanently damp in my last two cells. Water dripped from the walls and the leaks.

And how did all this affect your health?

Well, I am allergic to humidity. I had to be treated with antihistamines all the time. I suffer from migraines. I was always on analgesics to control those. I was 53 when I entered prison and 60 when I left and, logically, all that humidity made my osteoarthritis worse.

#OZT soundly condemns the new wave of repression in Cuba

2010-07-26T13:17:00.000-04:00

Communiqué of the #OZT: I accuse the Cuban government Campaign

The #OZT: I accuse the Cuban government Campaign denounces and condemns the arrest in La Habana of members of the opposition who were on their way to deliver our campaign’s Declaration for the Freedom of Cuban Political Prisoners, and the more of 52,000 signatures supporting it.

Katia Sonia Martín Véliz, coordinator for the organization Cuba Independiente y Democrática [Independent and Democratic Cuba], and her husband, the former political prisoner Ricardo Santiago Salabarría, were arrested at their house in the morning of 23 July. At the moment of their arrest, they were getting ready to go out, and deliver the Declaration and the signatures at the National Assembly of the People’s Power [Cuban “parliament”] in La Habana.

A political police agent, who introduced himself as Pavel, showed them an order of “domiciliary confinement”, signed by a prosecutor from Villa Marista [Security of State Headquarters] and warned against leaving their home. When the couple stated that it was their right to freely enter and leave their house, the police agent continued to threaten them in a very rude manner. He finally told Katia: “You will not be able to move [from the house]! We have people everywhere! If we have to beat you, we will beat you! We can throw you in jail, and if we need to kill you, we will kill you!”

Independent journalist Lisbán Hernández Sánchez from La Giraldilla Press Center, and other members of CID Aimé Cabrales Aguilar, Sergio García Argentel, Eduardo Pérez Flores, Lázaro José de la Noval Usín, Francisco Sa Fuster and Adbel Rodríguez Antiaga (provincial chairman of the organization) were all arrested around the National Assembly headquarters building.

Among the dissidents that were supposed to participate in the delivery of the signatures was Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz, from the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation, who was the first one to report the arrests.

This delivery is part of a broader activity planned by our campaign to mark the five-month anniversary of the death of Orlando Zapata. It also occurred in several Cuban diplomatic representations around the world.

Cuban diplomatic personnel has refused to receive the signatures, and have instead closed their doors during working hours, thrown punches at some of those who went to deliver the signatures, called the police to block access to the buildings, etc. We have approached their locales in a civilized and respectful way, even notifying them in advance of our visits.

The situation has repeated itself in Madrid, Barcelona, New York and Montreal.

In Miami, the campaign delivered the Declarations and its supporting signatures at Consulate of Spain that did not object to receiving them. These documents were also accompanied by a letter to the President of the Spanish Government, asking him that his government relays them to Raúl Castro, and that they are attached to the “Cuba and the European Union’s Official Position” dossier.
Hasta el momento, la anunciada excarcelación de los presos políticos cubanos ha sido solo uno más de los actos rituales de destierro de opositores y críticos que ha practicado el gobierno de Fidel y Raúl Castro durante décadas para obtener algún crédito internacional.

Our campaign reiterates that there cannot be advances in matters of human rights in Cuba without the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, and without official protection to the freedoms of expression, press, gathering and all other fundamental rights. To ignore the opposition, to banish it from Cuba or to repress it, is not the best way to achieve those changes.

The delivery of the signatures from our campaign at Cuban diplomatic headquarters around the world and to international organizations will continue next week.

Cuba: opposition activists arrested when trying to deliver signatures for the release of all political prisoners

2010-07-23T23:38:00.001-04:00

Between five and ten activists from different Cuban opposition, organizations were arrested in La Habana when they were trying to deliver more than 52,000 signatures from all over the world in support of this Campaign’s demand for the release of all Cuban political prisoners, and the respect of human rights in Cuba.

Elizardo Sánchez Santa-Cruz, spokesperson for the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation, informed that the arrests occurred around 10:00 am, when the activists were to deliver the signatures to the Cuban National Assembly. Their location and condition are still unknown. The political police prevented other activists from leaving their homes.

New video of #OZT at the Cuban mission to the UN in New York City

2010-07-23T19:23:00.002-04:00

UPDATED: Video of #OZT at the Cuban mission to the UN in New York City

2010-07-23T15:45:00.000-04:00

Raw unedited footage. Jorge Salcedo, #OZT: I accuse the Cuban government Campaign coordinator talks to Carmen María Rodríguez [in Spanish] for Radio Martí

UPDATE: The representatives of the Cuban regime hid away and refused to receive our Declaration and the more than 52,000 signatures from around the world supporting the freedom of all Cuban political prisoners, and respect for human rights in the island.

Barcelona: Cuban regime refuses to receive our declaration and the signatures in support

2010-07-23T15:26:00.001-04:00

A group of persons representing #OZT: I accuse the Cuban government Campaign, as well as the Spanish political party Ciudadanos/Ciutadans, an a other supporters, converged and demonstrated peacefully in front of the Cuban consulate in Barcelona. four of them marched to the door of the consulate and rung the bell to deliver our Declaration and themore of 52,000 signatures in support. A Cuban consular functionary opened the door, threw a punch at one of the peaceful demonstrators, and slammed the door. Later a small group of Castroite sympathizers verbally and physically assaulted the demonstrators. The Mossos d'Escuadra, Catalonian police, intervened to prevent that the agents of the Stalinist regime would cause any further harm to those peacefully demonstrating for freedom, the release of ll Cuban political prisoners, respect of human rights and democracy for Cuba.

See videos [in Spanish and Catalonian] below.

Today: #OZT in New York, Miami, Barcelona and Montréal

2010-07-23T09:25:00.001-04:00

Our campaign will attempt to deliver our Declaration, and the accompanying more than 52,000 signatures supporting freedom for all Cuban political prisoners and respect for human rights in Cuba; at the Cuban mission to the UN in New York City, the Archdiocese of Miami and the Spanish consulate in that city, and the Cuban consulates in Barcelona and Montréal today.

Yesterday, we attempted delivery at the Cuban embassy in Madrid, and were denied access to it.

We will update regularly with reports, photos and video as they become available. You can follow the action in New York City live (in Spanish) on Actualidad 1020.

Five more deportations

2010-07-23T09:12:00.000-04:00

Agence France Press reports:

The last five of a group of recently freed Cuban dissidents left for Madrid on Thursday, the Spanish Embassy said.

Jorge Luis Gonzalez, 39, Blas Giraldo Reyes, 54, Jose Ubaldo Izquierdo, 44, Jesus Mustafa, 66, and 47-year-old Antonio Diaz boarded a commercial flight that will arrive in the Spanish capital on Friday, an embassy spokesman said.

Izquierdo, however, may take another flight out of Madrid for Chile, after Santiago on Monday said it would welcome him and his family.

The five dissidents completed the list of 20 who have accepted residency in Spain after Spain helped broker a deal reached on July 7 between the Cuban government and the Roman Catholic Church to gradually free 52 detainees.

The remaining prisoners will remain in Cuba or leave for the United States.

The US Interest Section in Havana on Tuesday offered refugee status to all freed dissidents and their families who wish to travel to the United States and began interviewing prospective immigrants.

The deal, the largest release of Cuban prisoners since 1998 when 300 dissidents were spared jail time following a visit by then pope John Paul II, came after dissident hunger striker Guillermo Farinas nearly starved to death.

Havana wants to avoid a repeat of the death in detention of political prisoner Orlando Zapata on February 23, as it seeks closer international ties to improve its slumping economy.

And Cuba's parliamentary chief Ricardo Alarcon has said the country was ready to release more detainees.

Elizardo Sanchez, the president of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation that is tolerated by the government, said a further 50 or 60 political prisoners could be freed.

Cuban dissidents said there were approximately 170 political prisoners in Cuban jails before the announced release.

Yesterday, the BBC had also reported on the arrival in Madrid of three other released political prisoners. Click here to read that report.

Five more political prisoners may be released (and deported) today

2010-07-22T17:05:00.002-04:00

Our campaign has learned from Cuban opposition activist Martha Beatriz Roque by email that the political prisoners Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez, José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández, Jorge Luis González Tanquero, Jesús Mustafá Felipe and Antonio Ramón Diaz Sánchez have been ordered to “be ready” for this afternoon. This may point to their imminent release and subsequent deportation to Spain.

The five political prisoners have been kept in the infirmary of the Combinado del Este prison in La Habana for several days. Two other political prisoners, who are, as the previous part of the original Group of 75 arrested during Cuba’s Black Spring, Regis Iglesias Ramírez, Eduardo Díaz Fleitas and Efrén Fernández Fernández, are also at the prison’s infirmary.

Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello was also part of the Group of 75, but was released under an “extra-penal license” due to her health conditions.

We will continue to monitor and inform on the situation of these five political prisoners. We also continue to remind the regime of the public statement made by one of their top ranking members: that they are willing to release all political prisoners and that the latter can remain in Cuba if so they wish, that there will not be any more forced exile of prisoners.

We are watching you, and we are waiting.

BREAKING: The regime refuses to accept our Declaration and the signatures

2010-07-22T12:09:00.002-04:00

Directly from Madrid via telephone to our campaign:

The platform Cuba Democracia Ya! attempted to deliver the more than 52,000 signatures in support of our Declaration at the Cuban embassy in Madrid, Spain. However, the representatives of the Stalinist regime, in front of a large group of Spanish and foreign media, have refused to open the doors and allow them access.

UPDATED: in the photo below (from left to right)Cuba Democracia Ya! activists Yuniel Jacomino and Rigoberto Carceller, Catalonian politician Albert Rivera, and Mijaíl and Belkys Bárzaga, Cuban ex-political prisoners exiled by the regime to Spain, in front of the shuttered Cuban embassy in Madrid.

It starts today

2010-07-22T11:46:00.001-04:00

As we announced a few days ago, our campaign has begun the delivery of the more than 52,000 signatures in support of our Declaration for the Freedom of All Cuban Political Prisoners, and the respect of human rights in the island.

As we post this update, a group of activists belonging to the Cuba Democracia Ya! Group in Madrid, Spain, is at the Cuban Embassy in Spain trying to deliver the documents to the regime's representatives. Please follow up with us and our Spanish language blog for updates, including video.

We are still accepting signatures since this is not the end of the campaign. This effort will not end until all Cuban political prisoners are unconditionally free.

Marc Masferrer: Ariel Sigler flies to Miami on July 28

2010-07-21T22:56:00.000-04:00

Former Cuban political prisoner Ariel Sigler Amaya will fly to Miami on Wednesday, July 28, to receive needed medical care, according to Radio Martí, citing an AFP report.

Sigler was released from prison June 12 on a medical parole after more than seven years in the Castro gulag. But not until he threatened on Monday to start a hunger strike, did the Cuban government provide him with a visa to leave the country.

The United States government had earlier agreed to allow Sigler to enter the country on a humanitarian visa.

A former heavyweight boxer, Sigler, 46, was left a paraplegic by his time in prison.

Promise of freedom raises new questions about Cuba's political prisoners

2010-07-21T22:27:00.001-04:00

Reports Juan O. Tamayo on the Lexington [Kentucky] Herald Leader:

By JUAN O. TAMAYO - McClatchy Newspapers

MIAMI -- Statements by two top Cuban and Spanish officials Wednesday that Havana will free all its political prisoners - not just the 52 already promised their freedom - have raised the question of just how many political prisoners the island has.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told the lower chamber of the Spanish parliament that the Raul Castro government has taken "the decision to free all, all political prisoners.

The AFP news agency quoted the president of Cuba's National Assembly, Ricardo Alarcon, as saying in an interview that "the desire of the Cuban government is to free all ... who do not bear responsibility for the deaths of other persons."

The additional releases have not been confirmed by the Cuban Catholic Church, which announced July 7 that Havana had promised to free 52 prisoners as a result of talks with Castro and Moratinos. Orlando Marquez, spokesman for the Havana archbishop's office, could not immediately be reached for comment on the Moratinos and Alarcon statements.

Havana's leading human rights activist, Elizardo Sanchez, said the "stature of these two politicians is so high that one could believe that it's true."

But he cautioned: "This presumes that the Cuban government has a minimum of political will to do this."

Just as uncertain is how many prisoners would benefit from the broader release, because exactly who is a political prisoner in Cuba varies greatly depending on who's counting.

London-based Amnesty International, which has strict guidelines for designating "prisoners of conscience," reported earlier this year that Cuba held 53, accused of crimes such as "enemy propaganda" or collaborating with foreign governments and groups.

But Human Rights Watch, based in New York City, says many dissidents are jailed on charges that are not technically political. Dissident Darsi Ferrer, for example, was arrested last year for possession of two sacks of cement allegedly bought on the black market.

Sanchez's Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Commission counted 167 political prisoners just days before the church announced the planned release of the 52 - the last still jailed among 75 dissidents rounded up in 2003 and sentenced to long prison terms.

Of those on Sanchez's list, 10 are free because of ill health, but he still counts them because they could be sent back to prison any time. Another four were released in recent weeks after completing their sentences, leaving a total of 101.

Ninety-nine of those were not accused of violent crimes, Sanchez said in a telephone interview from Havana, and therefore should be released under Alarcon's criterion.

More at the link.

To read our campaign's response to Alarcón's statements, click here.

Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart wishes Dr. Biscet freedom on his birthday

2010-07-21T12:23:00.001-04:00

Nothing can silence them

2010-07-21T11:29:00.001-04:00

By Carlos Alberto Montaner
http://www.firmaspress.com/

MADRID Unexpectedly, the guard, in a voice less harsh than usual, said to him: "Paneque, leave your cell to take a phone call."

José Luis García Paneque, 44, is a doctor, a plastic surgeon specializing in burn injuries, a family man with several young children, talkative and intelligent like a good imp. In March 2003, during the so-called "Black Spring in Havana," he was arrested and summarily sentenced to 15 years in prison.

His crime? Like the rest of the 75 detainees during that repressive orgy, he wrote chronicles about the Cuban reality in foreign newspapers (because he wasn't allowed to do so in the government-fettered press), lent forbidden books, wanted and asked for democracy for his country and was a devout Catholic. In other words, the living portrait of a dangerous enemy of the people and an agent of Yankee imperialism.

The call came from Cardinal Jaime Ortega. Amiably, the prelate asked him if he wished to be released and sent to Spain. There were no humiliating conditions. Neither would Paneque have accepted them nor would Ortega have proposed them. Paneque answered Yes. Somehow, the democratic opposition had won the game, and the dictatorship was beginning to get rid of the prisoners of conscience.

Besides, Paneque trusted his church. The priests and bishops had not abandoned him when he was arrested. They helped his family and looked after him when they discovered that he was dying of the infectious diseases contracted in the filthy cells.

His immunological system no longer fought off the intestinal parasites, the medicines had lost their effectiveness and he gradually became malnourished. He looked like one of the prisoners in the Nazi concentration camps. Besides him, two other captives, Normando Hernández González and Ariel Sigler Amaya, suffered variations of the same chronic and incurable illness.

Of the three, Sigler, who was the strongest when they walked into prison, an almost-200-pound athlete, is in the worst condition: invalid, thin as a rail, in a wheelchair and incapable of even holding his head up without a neck brace. He's still in Havana because the Cuban government cruelly denies him an exit permit, even though he has a U.S. visa.

I went over to embrace the prisoners, who had just arrived in Spain. It was a very emotional moment. It is impossible to hold back the tears. One hides them, because of that awful curse that "men don't cry.'' But the eyes usually do their own thing.

Normando's mother, Blanca González, who had just arrived from Miami, hugged her son with the intense love of someone who had given birth to him for the second time. Andrés Ely Blanco, the great popular Venezuelan poet, perceptively stated it many decades ago: There is no happier day than the day the prisoners are freed.

I had seen Blanca shout at a hundred demonstrations, invoking Normando's name and waving his picture. To see him alive again was her wish when she went to bed and when she rose every single day. His cause encouraged her to continue breathing amid so much pain and so many sad reports that flew from the prison cells, like ravens, to warn her that Normando would die soon if he was not rescued.

The prisoners were housed in a modest hostel in Vallecas, an industrial neighborhood near Madrid. That's understandable. Spain, which has extended a generous hand amid a crisis, does not have funds to dispense charity profusely. The prisoners have arrived with their relatives, and the final bill could be high for any of the underbudgeted state institutions. Maybe there was also the objective of isolating them so the media hoopla could be kept down. The Zapatero government does not want this operation to become a broadside against the dictatorship.

But it won't accomplish that. These men -- for now, Paneque and Normando, Léster González, Antonio Villarreal, Pablo Pacheco, Julio César Gálvez, Omar Ruiz, Ricardo González -- are willing to die to defend their right to say what they think.

If they weren't silenced by the blows, the hunger and the caging in terrible prisons, who can even think of muzzling them now that they've gained freedom? They came to exercise their throats and will not keep quiet.

Reason Online: Cuba's "New Era" much like previous era

2010-07-21T11:06:00.002-04:00

By Michael C. Moynihan

The sinister dictators of Cuba, Fidel and Raul Castro, are getting a fair amount of good press for releasing a handful of political prisoners that committed no crime. A few things to keep in mind, for those celebrating the great “humanitarian gesture”—the one designed to head off Western criticism following the death of hunger strikers. The prisoners, all jailed for "political offenses," were allowed to leave prison provided they left Cuba—the cause for which they have risked their lives—and relocated to Spain. 11 prisoners were released to Spanish authorities, though many others refused to surrender their citizenship in exchange for their freedom. At a press conference in Spain, a small group of recently arrived dissidents urged the European Union to keep pressure on Cuba, noting that “their release was not a gesture of good faith but ‘a desperate action’ by the Cuban government.”

So how were conditions in Cuban prisons? According to this [expletive] at Harvard Law School's Criminal Justice Institute, the Cuban prison system is "far more humane than Western propaganda would have the uninformed public believe," nor do those lucky enough to be incarcerated "have to pay for their education, medical, dental or hospital care, or any other activities they experience." Imagine not having to fork over your $18 monthly salary for "activities" like beatings and the bi-weekly rotten food buffet!

In an interview with Bloomberg, recently-released prisoner Normando Hernandez Gonzalez explained what was wrong with all of this "Western propaganda" about prison conditions:

“The first month I spent in jail, I only ate eight times because the food they gave us was subhuman and so rotten that if you offered it to a dog, he’d turn away. For refusing to wear prison overalls, I was sent to a dark cell for 101 days without seeing the light of day. There wasn’t a single inch of my skin that wasn’t covered in septic mosquito bites. I was forced to sleep on the concrete floor with rats and cockroaches crawling over me.”
Incidentally, Gonzalez was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his association with the Camagüey College of Independent Journalists.

Miami Herald columnist Andreas Oppenheimer pooh-poohs talk of a “new era” from Cubans held hostage by the Castro brothers:

…[M]ost important, the Cuban regime is not even talking about modifying articles 72 and 73 of its criminal code, an Orwellian legislation that allows it to put people behind bars before they committed a crime on the mere suspicion that they may commit one in the future.

Nor is the regime ready to consider changing its law 88, which allows it to imprison people for writing anything that can be interpreted as critical of the government, or its various laws banning freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom to travel within the country or abroad, independent unions, and political parties.

When I asked José Miguel Vivanco, head of the Human Rights Watch advocacy group's Americas department, whether Cuba's latest announcement amounts to a "new phase" in Cuba, he said: "We are obviously very happy for the prisoners and their families, but I am not going to congratulate a government for imprisoning people that shouldn't have been imprisoned in the first place."

Communiqué of the #OZT I Accuse the Cuban government Campaign regarding the statements made by Ricardo Alarcón concerning the release of all Cuban political prisoners.

2010-07-20T23:53:00.002-04:00

Our campaign, #OZT I Accuse the Cuban government welcomes with satisfaction the recent statements by Ricardo Alarcón, president of Cuba’s National Assembly of the People’s Power [“parliament”], reaffirming the Cuban government’s intention to release all political prisoners beyond the 52 announced on 7 July. It is our understanding that this is the first time that a high ranking member of the Cuban government makes statements of this nature publicly.

We are pleased to hear that those who do not wish to leave Cuba will have the opportunity to return to their homes. The current “releases to Spain”, regardless of how they are officially called, are nothing but banishment. A release without forced exile of all political prisoners, more than its mere announcement, could be considered as a genuine step forward in the improvement of the human rights situation in Cuba.

We want to make absolutely clear that our demand for the freedom of the political prisoners does not include those who are responsible for deaths or other acts of terrorism. We neither support nor promote such acts, but it is convenient to remember that they are exactly the same as those used by the Cuban revolutionaries leading up to the triumph of the revolution in 1959 and later used to export and spread the influence of their revolution within and outside of Cuba. It would be productive to consider amnesty for them within a wider reconciliation process. However, our main demand involves those imprisoned for exercising their legitimate and inalienable human rights, charged with trumped up charges and sentenced in manipulated trials designed precisely to hide the real reason for which they were being repressed.

We urge the Cuban government to comply with its promise as soon as possible. Nothing, except its own will, prevents the regime from freeing these unjustly incarcerated persons.

Regime gives Permit to Leave the Country to Ariel Sigler Amaya after the intercession of Cardinal Ortega

2010-07-20T17:22:00.002-04:00

Radio Marti informs [in Spanish] that after yesterday's assault, and subsequent phone call from Cuban Cardinal and La Habana's Archbishop Jaime Ortega, the regime has finally given Ariel Sigler Amaya the Permit needed to leave Cuba for the US so that he can receive medical attention. Ariel's wife, Noelia, explained to Radio Martí that Ortega had called to tell her that he had personally interceded with the authorities for Ariel, and that they would be contacting her soon to confirm. They called her today. She stated that despite the outcome, she was not happy given "the high price that must be paid in Cuba to be able to leave the country."

More with audio [in Spanish] at the link.

AP: Cuba dissidents told Spain exile muddles US asylum

2010-07-20T16:59:00.000-04:00

AP informs from La Habana:

HAVANA — U.S. diplomats in Havana have told relatives of jailed Cuban dissidents that it will be more difficult for them to apply for asylum in America if they first accept a Church-brokered deal to trade jail for exile in Spain.

The meetings, confirmed by the family members of six imprisoned dissidents, come at a delicate time and could complicate releases of some 52 activists, journalists and opposition leaders arrested in a 2003 crackdown.

Under a deal brokered by Havana Cardinal Jaime Ortega earlier this month, Cuba has already freed 11 political prisoners and flown them to Madrid. Nine others have accepted the offer and are expected to arrive in coming days.

The rest of the jailed dissidents have either refused to go, or have not yet been contacted by Roman Catholic church officials. The church has said exile in Spain is an "option," but has not specified what will happen to those who refuse to leave the country.

The family members of several dissidents who have not yet accepted Spanish asylum met Tuesday with officials at the U.S. Interests Section, which Washington maintains in Havana instead of an embassy. Other family members are expected to visit the Interests Section in coming days.

After the meetings, the relatives told The Associated Press they were informed they would not be allowed to apply for asylum in the United States from Spain, but could petition for residence like any other would-be immigrant.

"We came here thinking they would give us some option (of applying for asylum from Spain), but they won't," said Sofia Garcia, whose husband, Jose Miguel Martinez, has been serving a 13-year sentence for treason.

She said she was told that if the family goes to Spain they would have to apply for residence in the United States through regular channels, a process that can take years and usually requires a sponsor.

Teresita Galvan, whose brother Miguel Galvan is serving a 26-year term, said she left the meeting under the impression that by accepting the deal to go to Spain, her family would give up its right to later claim asylum in the United States.

It means a stark choice for some of the dissidents, many of whom have family in the United States: Stay in Cuba and try to win U.S. asylum, or leave immediately for Spain and take themselves out of consideration.

Gloria Berbena, a spokeswoman at the Interests Section, confirmed that individual meetings were taking place to answer questions the family members might have about seeking asylum.

Berbena said the Cubans were being informed that any asylum applications from Spain would be handled differently from those made inside Cuba.

"The process is different depending on where you apply from," she said.

Cubans applying for asylum in the United States can claim that they face persecution or danger if they remain in the country, something that would be harder to do if they have already fled to a friendly country.

When asked if American diplomats were advising the prisoners not to accept Spanish asylum, Berbena said only: "We believe that Cubans should be free to make their own decisions."

Marc Masferrer: Cuban political prisoner Efrén Fernández starts hunger strike

2010-07-20T15:09:00.000-04:00

Cuban political prisoner Efrén Fernández Fernández started a hunger strike late last week to protest his transfer from a medical facility back to prison, according to Oswaldo Payá, head of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL)[in Spanish].

Fernández, an MCL activist imprisoned since the "black spring" crackdown of 2003, had been receiving treatment for skin and intestinal problems no doubt brought on by and/or aggravated by his more than seven years in the Castro gulag. He is demanding that he be given the care he needs.

Fernández is serving a 12-year sentence, but the Catholic Church in Cuba has said he is one of 52 prisoners set to be released under a deal negotiated by the church, the Spanish government and the Castro dictatorship.

More than 52,000 signatures for freedom

2010-07-20T12:17:00.000-04:00

Today, we have surpassed the 52, 000 signatures in support of our Declaration for the Freedom of All Cuban Political Prisoners. Their official delivery will begin this Thursday at Cuban embassies and consulates around the world.

Among the most recent signatories are Uruguayan journalist Julia Rodríguez Larreta, Cuban plastic artists Omar Santana and Arturo Cuenca, Italian filmmaker Pierantonio Maria Micciarelli, Cuban actors Orlando Casín and Roberto San Martín and academician Beatriz Bernal Gómez, Venezuelan writers Freddy Siso Rivas and Joaquín Marta Sosa, Mexican journalist and author Martha Robles, French painter Rémi Champseit, Cuban-American author Pablo Medina, Colombian poet Sergio Esteban Vélez, Cuban writer Juan Abreu, writers and politicians Percival Puggina from Brazil and Miguel Angel Llauger from Spain. To all of them, and to all of you who have signed, thank you.

Regime says that will free more political prisoners, and allow them to stay in Cuba

2010-07-20T11:31:00.000-04:00

Radio Netherlands reports:

Cuba is prepared to set free more political prisoners than the 52 whose release was announced earlier this month. Those who are freed may, if they wish, remain in the country. The announcement was made by Ricardo Alarcón, the President of the Cuban parliament, on Tuesday.

The Cuban regime decided, earlier in July and after mediation by the Roman Catholic Church, to release 52 opponents of the country’s government. The 52 belonged to a group of 75 individuals sentenced in 2003 to terms in jail of between six and 28 years. According to figures from Cuban dissidents, there would still be 115 political prisoners in Cuba following the release of the 52.

At least 11 dissidents have already emigrated to Spain. Nine others will depart later this week. Those who agreed to go into exile in Spain were the first to be set free. Church officials have stressed that emigrating from Cuba was an offer, not a condition for the release

It is part of the biggest release of political prisoners since 1998, when 300 dissidents were spared jail time following a visit by then-pope John Paul II.

Our campaign will start delivering the signatures in support of its Declaration this week

2010-07-20T00:28:00.005-04:00

Image designed by Rolando Pulido

The #OZT: I Accuse the Cuban government Campaign will deliver the first group of collected signatures as well as Cuba’s embassies and consulates around the world on 22 July, at five months of the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo.

The Declaration has been signed so far by 51, 950 persons from 109 countries. It demands “the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Cuban jails.” By delivering these signatures we reiterate our call on Raul Castro’s government to extend the 52 releases announced on 7 July to all political prisoners in the island and to stop sending them on forced exiles.

We ask all of those who would like to participate to wear a white piece of clothing on their upper bodies [a “top”] and to bring images of Orlando Zapata Tamayo or signs related to the campaign’s objectives.

The dates and the ways on which the signatures will be delivered, will vary by city. Please contact the coordinators for further details. We will update the contact as soon as we confirm that other cities are joining us. All times listed below are local.

New York
Place: Cuban Mission to the UN - 315 Lexington Ave., New York, New York, 10016
Date: Friday, 23 July
Time: 10:30 AM (the march begns at this time at Times Square, walkin toward the Mission)
Coordinator: Alexis Romay

Madrid
Lugar: Embassy of Cuba in Spain - Paseo de la Habana, No. 194, 28036, Madrid
Date: Thursday, 22 July
Time: 5:30 PM
Coordinator: Yuniel Jacomino

Barcelona
Place: Cuban Consulate in Barcelona - Paseo de Gracia No. 34, 08007, Barcelona
Date: Friday, 23 July
Time: 12 Noon
Contact: Joan Antoni Guerrero

Miami
Place: Spanish Consulate in Miami - 2655 Le Jeune Road, Suite 203, Coral Gables, Florida 33134
Date: Friday, 23 July
Time: 10:00 AM
Contact: Alina Brouwer

Place: Archdiocese of Miami - 9401 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami Shores, FL 33138
Date: Friday, 23 July
Time: 11:30 AM
Contact: Verónica Cervera

Sevilla
Place: Cuban Consulate in Sevilla. Avenida Blas Infante, 6 (Edificio Urbis)
Date: Tuesday, 27 July
Time: 12 Noon
Coordinator: Ana Fuentes

Montreal
Place: Cuban Consulate in Montreal - 4542 Decarie Boulevard, Montreal H4A 3P2 Mont real, Québec
Date: Friday, 23 July
Time: 10:30 AM
Coordinator: Isbel Alba

Montevideo
Place: Embassy of Cuba in Uruguay - Echevarriarza 3471, Montevideo, Uruguay
Date: TBA
Time: TBA
Coordinator: Fernando Pittier

Santiago de Chile
Place: Embassy of Cuba in Chile - Av. Los Leones 1346- Providencia, Santiago de Chile
Date: TBA
Time: TBA
Coordinator: Mijail Bonito Lovio

BREAKING: Ariel Sigler Amaya beaten and detained

2010-07-19T15:31:00.001-04:00

Radio Martí informs [in Spanish] that Ariel Sigler Amaya has been beaten and detained at the Immigration and Naturalization Offices in the city of Matanzas. He had staged a protest, as he had promised, because the regime refuses to give him the exit permit needed to receive medical attention in the U.S.

Other sources inform through Twitter from Cuba that he is still being held in the municipality of Pedro Betancourt

BREAKING: US diplomats in Cuba to meet jailed dissidents' wives

2010-07-19T11:44:00.001-04:00

Agence France Press reports:

HAVANA — The US diplomatic mission in Cuba has convened a meeting here with relatives of political prisoners who are refusing an offer to leave and emigrate to Spain, wives of the jailed dissidents told AFP.

Representatives of the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish embassy were also to attend the 1:00 pm (1700 GMT) meeting with officials from US consular services and the mission's refugee section, they said.

"All we know is that they have invited a representative of each prisoner who has not been contacted by the church or who have refused to travel to Spain," said Laura Pollan, the head of the Ladies in White, a group of wives of political prisoners.

So far, 11 political prisoners have emigrated to Spain and another nine were expected to arrive in Madrid this week as part of Cuba's biggest release of political prisoners in over a decade.

Petition from the former prisoners of conscience exiled by Cuba to Spain, to the foreign ministers of the European Union about the "Common Position on Cuba"

2010-07-19T11:41:00.000-04:00

Madrid, 19 July 2010

Your Excellencies, the

Foreign Ministers of the European Union

We, the Cuban prisoners of conscience exiled to Spain in recent days, aware of the manifest willingness of some European countries to modify the E.U.’s “Common Position” regarding Cuba, declare our disagreement with an approval of this measure, as we understand that the Cuban government has not taken steps that evidence a clear decision to advance toward the democratization of our country.

Our departure for Spain must not be considered a good-will gesture but a desperate action on the regime’s part in its urgent quest for credits of every type.

It is for that reason that we ask the countries of the European Union not to again soften their exigencies intended to achieve changes toward democracy in Cuba and to secure for all Cubans the same rights that European citizens enjoy.

Respectfully,

Ricardo González Alfonso

Mijail Bárzaga Lugo

Normando Hernández González

Antonio Augusto Villarreal Acosta

Omar Rodríguez Saludes

Luis Milán Fernández

Pablo Pacheco Ávila

José Luis García Paneque

Julio César Gálvez

Léster González Pentón

NYT: Out of Prison, Still Not Free

2010-07-19T08:51:00.000-04:00

By RICARDO GONZÁLEZ ALFONSO
Madrid

I NEVER imagined I would be born at the age of 60, at an altitude of several thousand feet above the Atlantic. That isn’t gibberish; it’s what I felt when I was released from jail in Cuba and exiled to Spain last Monday.

My debut as a prisoner of conscience came early in 2003, a period subsequently characterized by the world’s press as the Black Spring. I was just one of 75 Cubans imprisoned for our belief that freedom is an achievable miracle and not a crime against the state.

They say prison is a school, and it’s true. I did my best to be a good student and kept back my tears. I succeeded so well that my prison companions still think me a brave man.

Within a few months I could find my way pretty well around the labyrinths of shipwrecked souls. I learned the secrets and legends of killers for hire, crimes of passion, traffickers in illicit powdery substances, would-be emigrants whose clandestine departures had been no secret to the state — even thieves who’d share their teaspoon of sugar on days of hunger.

Zoology was one class we had every day. I learned to live with rats, and even came, on certain nights of our tropical winter (which is winter, nevertheless) to stare at them with an urgency not unlike what people call appetite. I was a solitary friend to the deft spiders that sometimes freed me from the torturous buzzings and blood-shedding bites that accompanied my insomnia.

I became well versed in cosmic solitude and silence. I remember being in a cell no wider than a man with outstretched arms. I also grew familiar with fetid overcrowding and unceasing clamor. Months of unending darkness, months of eternal light.

I was only an auditor in certain courses, in which I learned that some prisoners were specializing in self-injury as a crude solution to their despair. I was witness to mutilated hands and other wounds as mortal or venial as sins. A man cut off his own penis and testicles in a desperate attempt to become a woman. Others, more radical and exhausted by perpetual existential tumult, turned to various methods of suicide, all of them extremely effective.

A large part of the program of study consisted in the defense of one’s rights. There was no theoretical option, only the very Cuban practice of the hunger strike. I carried one out for 16 days, until part of my will felt satisfied with my victory. That long and voluntary fast vindicated the enforced daily fast of imprisonment.

As in any school, there were periods of leisure. Packs of cigarettes were wagered on the outcome of chess matches, card games or soccer contests. I knew sellers and buyers of recreational drugs who were very good at evading or bribing both prison guards and informer inmates.

There was no lack of expertise in armed aggression. Pitiful, decaying knives that were nevertheless sharp-edged and skillfully wielded left trails of blood and rage behind them. (But I never signed up for that class.)

I’ve always had an aptitude for subjects that have to do with dreams, and I dreamed of my wife and children with such fervor that I know they felt my caresses as they lay asleep.

I was almost an exemplary student, and received only one failing grade: in hatred. Despite certain zones of memory, I bear no rancor against my jailers.

And now, after this senescent birth of mine, I’m contemplating the future with all the hope of the newly unveiled. Ever the optimist, I even dream of returning to a Cuba where freedom is not an impossible illusion. I know that, in the next 60 years, I won’t have to be reborn again.

Ricardo González Alfonso is a journalist. This article was translated by Esther Allen from the Spanish.

Bittersweet taste of freedom

2010-07-19T08:47:00.000-04:00

By María Elena Salinas

For those of us who live in a free society, it’s difficult to imagine what it’s like to survive in a place where expressing your views and asking that your rights as a human being be respected could land you in jail. But that’s what life is like in Cuba. Throughout the years, the communist regime of the Castro brothers has put hundreds of dissidents behind bars.

In a twist of fate, or political maneuvering, 52 prisoners of conscience are being set free, allowed to leave the country with their family members if they so choose. Many of them accepted the offer to begin their exile in Spain.

Among the first nine to arrive in Madrid was Normando Hernandez. He traveled there with his wife and young daughter and was greeted by his mother, Blanca Gonzalez, who traveled to Spain from her own exile in Miami to greet him. I spoke to Normando by phone shortly after. “I feel a lot of sadness and nostalgia,” he told me. “It broke my heart to see my mother crying when she saw the frail condition I am in.”

It was for him a bittersweet moment. Although happy to be a free man and once again reunited with his mother after eight years, it pains him to think of what he left behind. “I left not only family members behind, but also my people, my brothers in the cause who are living their life in slow motion in Cuban jails in deplorable conditions and with the uncertainty of what will become of them.”

When they arrived in Spain, the freed prisoners were taken to a modest hotel in an industrial area in the outskirts of Madrid, where conditions were not quite what one might expect to find in a First World country. No TV sets, the rooms have metal lockers to store clothes, and guests have to share a bathroom. Yet, they could not complain. This was heaven compared with the conditions in a Cuban jail.

Hernandez worked as a writer and independent journalist in Cuba. He was sentenced to 25 years behind bars for reporting on the conditions of state-run services and criticizing the government. According to PEN American Center, a literary and human-rights organization, during his time behind bars he was transferred several times from one prison to another, held in solitary confinement with only four hours of sunlight a week. He was forced to share a tiny cell with insects, rodents and mentally unstable prisoners. He was given polluted water and inadequate food, and was offered only basic medical services. While in captivity, he contracted several illnesses.

The release of the 52 prisoners from Cuban jails is officially the result of the Catholic Church on the island and the government of Spain negotiating with Cuban authorities, but almost certainly was influenced by the bravery of ordinary Cubans who decided to go from oppressed observers to silent protesters, a silence so strong it reverberated in the highest levels of the Cuban hierarchy.

The pressure was on when international public opinion began to shift against the Castro regime as images of the “Ladies in White,” mothers and wives of political prisoners, being harassed by pro-government mobs during their Sunday vigils were broadcast around the world. The death of Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata in February, following an 85-day hunger strike, motivated independent journalist Guillermo Farinas to start his own hunger strike until prisoners who were gravely ill were allowed back home with their families and given proper medical attention. Shortly after the announcement of the release of the political prisoners in Cuba, Farinas, virtually on his deathbed, ended his 130-day hunger strike.

The release of these men is one of the most significant signs coming from the communist island of what could be the appearance of loosening up its tight reign. Critics of the Cuban regime think it’s just a public-relations stunt. The Cuban government has never admitted that there are political prisoners in Cuba, but according to human-rights groups, there are still dozens of prisoners of conscience behind bars.

For his part, Normando Hernandez will begin a new life in Spain, hoping eventually to live his exile in Miami. But his struggle to free Cuba will remain the same: “Whatever it takes to free my people, I will do, as a journalist, as a defender of human rights, in any capacity, but I will do it in a peaceful way.”

UN chief wants human rights improvement from Cuba

2010-07-19T08:41:00.000-04:00

From AP:

GENEVA — The U.N. secretary-general says Cuba should build on its release of at least 20 dissidents by doing more to improve human rights.

Ban Ki-moon welcomed last week's transfer of 11 Cuban prisoners to Spain. Nine more are expected to arrive Tuesday, along with around 50 of their relatives.

Speaking in Geneva, Ban said Monday that he has closely followed the developments. He called them "encouraging."

But he said the U.N. still expects "more reconciliatory measures taken by Cuban authorities, establishing the rule of law and respecting human rights."

Cuba is committed to releasing 52 imprisoned dissidents under a deal with the Spanish government and Catholic Church.

AP: Spain to take 9 more Cuban political prisoner

2010-07-18T14:31:00.000-04:00

MADRID — Spain's Foreign Minister says nine more Cuban political prisoners will fly to freedom in Madrid this week along with around 50 of their relatives.
Miguel Angel Moratinos says the freed dissidents would arrive Tuesday to join 11 others recently released and now in Spain.

The liberation of 20 Cuban dissidents to Spain is part of a commitment made by the Castro regime to release 52 opponents imprisoned since 2003 under an agreement reached with the Spanish government and Catholic Church. Moratinos did not identify the prisoners but said all were traveling of their own free will. He asked that Spaniards and Cubans show understanding.

Moratinos was speaking during a visit to Kazakhstan in an interview broadcast on Cadena Ser's website Sunday.

"I can't feel free as long as there is a political prisoner in Cuba."

2010-07-18T14:19:00.022-04:00

The Miami Herald publishes today an extensive report by Fabiola Santiago on the Cuban political prisoners exiled to Spain:

11 Cuban prisoners, expatriated to Spain, are weary, ailing, defiant and free
After years in windowless cells, they find themselves reunited with family but deprived of their homeland.

BY FABIOLA SANTIAGO
FSANTIAGO@MIAMIHERALD.COM

MADRID -- Packed into a hostel named Welcome that advertises lodging for about $18 a night -- the same as a cab ride to this industrial hub 10 miles away from the city center -- the 11 freed Cuban prisoners who arrived this week with their families face an uncertain future in a country reeling from economic woes.

The ex-prisoners are not euphoric, as one might expect newly freed men to be, and despite the crisp white shirt, dress slacks, leather shoes and striped tie with which the Cuban government put them on a plane to the Spanish capital, the men look weathered by their whirlwind transatlantic flight and seven years of incarceration in windowless cells alongside common prisoners.

"I can't enjoy anything. I can't feel free as long as there is a political prisoner in Cuba. How can I be happy with all I left behind?'' asks Mijail Barzaga Lugo, 43, who served time in four different prisons for filing news reports about life in Cuba to CubaNet and Radio Martí.

Barzaga and the others are part of a group of 75 independent journalists and peaceful dissidents jailed in the massive crackdown of 2003 known as the Black Spring. These 11 freed prisoners are the first of 52 scheduled to be released and expatriated to Spain in the next four months under an agreement negotiated by the Spanish government and the island's highest-ranking Catholic, Cardinal Jaime Ortega. Two others from the group of 75 -- the poet and columnist Raul Rivero, released in 2005, and Alejandro Gonzalez Raga, released in 2008 -- also were resettled here.

Besides Barzaga, those who arrived between Tuesday and Thursday were Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso, Lester Gonzalez, Omar Ruiz, Antonio Villareal, Julio Cesar Galvez, Jose Luis Garcia Paneque, Pablo Pacheco, Omar Rodriguez Saludes, Normando Hernandez Gonzalez, and Luis Milan. All were accompanied by family members, some of them members of the support group Ladies in White, who marched every Sunday in Havana to demand the prisoners' freedom.

Read the rest at the link.

The Miami Herald: It took more than dialogue to free them

2010-07-18T14:12:00.000-04:00

BY PAUL WEBSTER HARE
PAULHARE@BU.EDU

Cuban political prisoners are being released because of dialogue, Spanish Minister Moratinos is telling the European Union. He is claiming the Spanish government's approach is vindicated and that the EU Common Position on Cuba should now be abandoned. There is a ``new era'' in Cuba.

The promised release (or exile) of 52 political prisoners is welcome news, but how really did it happen and how should the international community now engage with Cuba?

Dialogue with Cuba is nothing new to the EU. Since the Common Position was agreed upon in 1996, scores of EU ministers from member countries have visited Cuba, and many Cuban government officials have visited Europe. The EU has sponsored major cooperation programs with Cuba and exchanges in science, education, sport and culture. EU tourists and foreign investment have followed. The objective is to promote greater political and economic openness from within Cuba.

This EU dialogue and engagement with Cuba has been achieved with a Common Position. Indeed such instruments are widely used to coordinate EU foreign policy. The EU and Cuba opened a formal EU Commission office in Havana in March 2003 and the Cuban government was delighted.

However, five days later, when the eyes of the rest of the world were on Iraq, the EU reacted to Cuba's crackdown and jailing of the 75, whose releases we see now. The EU imposed diplomatic sanctions on Cuba and invited the dissidents and their families to their parties, alongside members of the government. Fidel Castro was furious, staging massive rallies against the Spanish and Italian embassies and freezing diplomatic contacts. The British embassy received a bomb threat. The solidarity which the EU fostered helped the formation of the Damas de Blanco group. They and Oswaldo Paya have both won EU Parliament prizes. All this was under the Common Position.

Moratinos came to office in 2004 and proposed a radical shift in EU policy. He questioned the purpose of the sanctions, arguing the Common Position stood in the way of "a serene and confident relationship'' between the EU and Cuba. Moratinos set about negotiating the sanctions away.

Fourteen prisoners were released by December 2004 (while the EU sanctions were still in place) including prominent figures like Raul Rivero, Martha Beatriz Roque and Oscar Espinosa Chepe. Since the dropping of the EU sanctions there were no other mass releases of prisoners -- until July 2010.

Moratinos' diplomacy has involved regular contact with the Cuban government. Yet when in Havana he has refused to meet opposition figures and did not question the Cuban government's record on human rights. In 2009 Moratinos said that the scrapping of the Common Position on Cuba would be a centerpiece of the Spanish EU presidency in the first half of 2010.

Why? Because it was disrespectful to the Cuban government and stood in the way of a "normal'' relationship between Cuba and the EU.

As often in Cuba policy, events have intervened. Five years after the EU dropped its sanctions, Yoani Sánchez was being attacked, the Damas de Blanco were being harassed and threatened and Orlando Zapata Tamayo had died for the cause of the dissident prisoners. On March 11, the European Parliament condemned the Cuban government for Zapata's death and called for renewed EU attention to human rights. On March 24, President Obama echoed the same sentiments. In April 2010, Cardinal Jaime Ortega gave his now famous, forthright interview to the Catholic Church's Palabra Nueva, and respected Cubans like Silvio Rodríguez and Carlos Varela criticized repression in Cuba.

The prisoner releases are not then simply attributable to "dialogue.'' The EU has had to play a more versatile role as Cubans themselves have been emboldened. The church's assertiveness followed EU and international outrage and showed what many suspected -- that the church had long underused it potential for political influence.

The church has now embraced the dissidents' cause and wider frustrations. Combined with the opposition's own courage they have forged an effective alliance. But the EU has also continued to focus on Cuba. Its tourists, investment and cooperation are still there. But it refused to abandon the Common Position in June 2010 as Moratinos wanted, postponing their review until September. We see the results today.

Moratinos can claim credit for keeping the EU's attention on Cuba but the firmness of the collective EU in denouncing Cuban repression has surely proved more valuable since 1996. It has helped to produce more than dialogue for its own sake. The EU should heed these lessons when it reviews Cuba policy -- and the continued lack of basic freedoms on the island -- in September.

Paul Webster Hare was British ambassador to Cuba from 2001-04 and was in Havana at the time of the jailing of the 75 political prisoners in 2003.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights welcomes release of prisoner in Cuba

2010-07-17T16:32:00.002-04:00

Washington, D.C., July 13, 2010—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) welcomes the decision by the government of Cuba to release seven persons who had been deprived of their liberty since 2003. According to the information received, those released were taken to Spain, and others reportedly may be released as well.

In October 2006, the IACHR adopted its Report on the Merits in Case 12.476, in which it recommended that the State of Cuba immediately and unconditionally release 75 dissidents, members of the opposition, human rights activists, and independent journalists who had been arrested in March 2003 for exercising their right to freedom of expression. All the dissidents who were released are victims named in that Report on the Merits.

The IACHR encourages the State of Cuba to continue with the process of release of all political prisoners. Likewise, the Commission reiterates that, as it recommended in the Merits Report in Case 12.476, Cuba must overturn their convictions and bring its procedural norms in line with applicable international standards for due process, so that persons who turn to the courts to determine their rights and responsibilities can count on the minimum legal guarantees to exercise their defense.

The IACHR calls upon the State to undertake all necessary reforms in accordance with its international human rights obligations and to implement a process of democratic normalization. The IACHR remains at the disposal of the State of Cuba to assist in this process.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who act in a personal capacity, without representing a particular country, and who are elected by the OAS General Assembly.

Useful links
Press Release 33/10: IACHR Concerned about Situation of Guillermo Fariñas in Cuba
Press Release 22/10: IACHR Condemns Death of Orlando Zapata in Cuba
Merits Report, Case No. 12.476, Cuba
IACHR Press Office
IACHR Web site

(Source: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights).

The Miami Herald: Cuban cardinal visited U.S. before prisoner deal

2010-07-17T16:31:00.000-04:00

The State Department confirmed reports that Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega was in the U.S. just days before he announced a deal with Raúl Castro to release political prisoners.

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM

Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega visited the United States in June, just days before he announced that the Raúl Castro government had agreed to free 52 political prisoners, the U.S. State Department confirmed Friday.

"Cardinal Ortega visited the United States in June,'' said Virginia Staab, a Western Hemisphere Affairs spokesperson. But she declined comment on reports that Ortega met with two senior U.S. officials in Washington during the visit and informed them -- with Cuba's approval -- of his talks with Castro on the prisoner release.

"What we find important here is not who knew what when but that several individuals who were imprisoned simply due to their personal beliefs have been released and that many more (more than 100) have not yet been identified for release,'' she said.

"We continue to urge the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, not just those arrested during the Black Spring crackdown in 2003.''

TOP OFFICIALS

The Wall Street Journal reported on June 28 that Ortega had met with Arturo Valenzuela, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee. Neither have confirmed the report.
Berman has endorsed a bill before Congress that would lift all U.S. restrictions on travel to Cuba -and unleash a gusher of U.S. tourism dollars for the economically strapped island.

Officials in Washington told El Nuevo Herald that Ortega was in Washington on June 22 as part of a low-profile U.S. visit. He also spent time in New York City, apparently meeting with U.S. Catholic church officials.

Ortega's director of communications, Orlando Marquez, confirmed to the website Progreso Weekly on June 30 that the cardinal had visited Washington for meetings arranged by the U.S. Conference of Bishops.

MONTHS OF TALKS

Ortega's talks with Castro began in March, after pro-government mobs harassed the Ladies in White during their marches, following a mass in a Havana church to demand the release of relatives jailed since the 2003 crackdown.

It was only last week that Castro agreed that over the next three to four months he would free the last 52 dissidents still in jail from the 2003 roundup, which sentenced 75 opposition figures to lengthy prison terms.

Two dozen others were previously released.

CNA: Exiled political prisoners call for release of those who wish to remain in Cuba

2010-07-17T00:34:00.000-04:00

Madrid, Spain, Jul 16, 2010 (CNA/Europa Press).- The group of Cuban political prisoners who were released and sent to Spain as a result of the mediation of the Catholic Church called on the Raul Castro regime Thursday to immediately release those dissidents who refuse to be “deported” to Spain and desire to remain in Cuba to defend their ideas.

“The Cuban government has released those of us who have chosen exile,” said journalist Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso during a press conference in Madrid. “It’s much easier to free those who want to stay,” he added. “All you have to do is open the prison doors.”

“If the intention is to release them all, what are they waiting for?” he asked. Alfonso questioned whether Castro’s intention is to use these political prisoners as “hostages” or pawns for future deals.

Alfonso said the government should release these political prisoners “at once” and not within three or four months, as was promised to Cardinal Jaime Ortega during negotiations.

Julio Cesar Galvez, another dissident who arrived in Madrid this week, echoed Gonzalez Alfonso's sentiments and said the eventual release of the prisoners in Cuba should also mean they will be free to move about the country and find work, without harassment from state security agents. “May those who want to stay there be freed,” he said.

Galvez read a statement from the nine dissidents in Madrid pledging their commitment to “continue the fight for the release of all the prisoners” and for “a free and democratic Cuba.” “If we defended our rights when it was impossible to speak up, it would absurd to give up the fight now that we have much more favorable conditions,” he said.

Omar Rodriguez Saludes, another of the dissidents sent to Spain, called on the Cuban government to first release those prisoners who are sick among the 52 it has promised to free, citing the particular cases of Efren Fernandez and Guido Sigler Amaya.

Prison conditions

Julio Cesar Galvez also took the occasion to denounce the terrible prison conditions in Cuba, where sometimes as many as 40 prisoners share a cell infested with rats, cockroaches and other pests. They are often fed nothing more than water boiled with plantain peels.

Not only are the political prisoners subject to such harsh conditions, so are common criminals are as well. Many of them suffer from dengue fever and tuberculosis. Normando Hernandez Gonzalez, another freed dissident, said prison officials ignore the pleas of those who have fallen ill, leading many to fall into despair and commit self-inflicted wounds in order to gain the medical attention they need.

For this reason, Omar Rodriguez demanded the Cuban government allow the U.N. to visit prisons on the island and assess their conditions. Julio Cesar Galvez went even further and said U.N. inspectors should be allowed in “to show what is happening inside Cuba.”

Rodriguez also quoted a famous statement by Fidel Castro—“Ideas cannot be killed”—and said, “Neither can ideas be kidnapped or exiled, that is our message to the Cuban government.”

Released political prisoners vow to fight on for the freedom of Cuba

2010-07-16T09:57:00.002-04:00

The BBC has published this morning a report on the various statements given to the media during press conferences by the released political prisoners exiled to Spain by the Cuban regime.

The article quotes them describing the conditions on which they were kept, the abuses they suffered in prison, and the lasting consequences of their unjust imprisonment:

[…]here in Spain, the former prisoners have been giving disturbing details of their years behind bars.

"I spent 18 months in solitary confinement," Lester Gonzalez told the BBC, showing a court paper which detailed his 20-year prison sentence.

"[I was] in the dark, with my hands tied; with rats and cockroaches and excrement everywhere. That was all I could smell."

[…]they've described crowded and filthy prison cells where they were denied drinking water for days; often, the only food was "giraffe soup" - so watery, the prisoner stretched his neck searching for some kind of nutritional content.

"I went into prison weighing 86kg, now I'm 48kg," said Jose Luis Garcia Paneque, one of several men now suffering serious medical complaints.

"That's the effect of my prison time: chronic illness for rest of my life," explained Mr Garcia Paneque, now a shrunken figure with hollow cheeks.

[…]The men, who were held with ordinary Cuban criminals, recounted how prisoners routinely inflicted serious injuries upon themselves to get even basic medical attention from prison staff.

In one case, they said a man jabbed needles in his eyes but was left unattended for two days.

They denounced their forced exile, and that although released from jail, their sentences are still in effect, and they could be imprisoned should they ever be able to return to Cuba (something for which the regime has said they will need a permit):

"The Cuban government has been categorical: we have to get permission to return to the place we were born in," said Julio Cesar Galvez, who describes his arrival in Spain as deportation.

"We are not free. We are not immigrants here. Quite simply, we are refugees."

Cuban Church officials say 20 prisoners have agreed to come to Spain. As their criminal convictions have not been overturned, they say exile was the only option.

"If I leave prison, but I can't work to support my family, that's not freedom," explained Mr Galvez, who was sentenced to 15 years for his work as an independent journalist.

"If I'm still harassed, if they follow us, listen to our phone calls and want to know where we're going and what we're doing - we're not free," he said.

The opposition activists warned the EU and the rest of the international community against being too optimistic and seeing the move by the regime as a sign of change:

[…]the former prisoners say it would be "unacceptable" to see their release as proof that the Cuban government's approach to human rights has improved.

"Real improvement would mean new laws, no more repression or arrests of human rights activists," one said, adding that included his own right to return home without fear of prison again.

Another mentioned freedom of speech, and a third called the government's move a "smoke-screen" ahead of an EU review of its common position on Cuba this autumn.

Entire article with more pictures at the link.

CNA: Dissident reaffirms dedication to fight for freedom in Cuba

2010-07-16T09:04:00.000-04:00

Havana, Cuba (CNA).- The coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Payá, slammed the Cuban government this week for not respecting the rights of the recently-freed political prisoners and sending them into exile. He vowed the fight to free Cuba would continue forward.

The first group of 11 prisoners were released this week and immediately flown to Spain. The remaining 41 political prisoners will be freed in the next three months.

"The dignity, rights and even feelings of those who have been freed are not being respected," Payá said. "They and those who remain imprisoned carry the torch of heroes. We thank them and we say to them: we shall continue together to fight for the freedom and rights of Cubans," he said in a message.

"Some wish to portray this action by the government as change in Cuba (I wish it were change)," Payá continued. He noted that if the Spanish government and Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs "are saying this is the beginning of the changes, Cubans aren’t aware of it, and it seems the Cuban government isn’t either."

For this reason, he said, the Communist government ought to be the one "telling the people that this is beginning of the changes."

Payá criticized the decision to force the political prisoners into exile: "We must remember that these men were not blowing things up or engaging in violence," Payá said, unlike Fidel and Raul Castro, who were released from prison in 1953 and were allowed to stay in the country. "So it seems the current government is more afraid the ideas of these brothers of ours than the dictator Batista was of their rifles and bombs," Payá added.

The exiled Cubans leave "with their hearts broken and full of uncertainty, but with high morale and with our sentiments of gratitude for what they suffered cruelly in prison for the rights and liberty of Cubans,” remarked Payá. “The world should know that these men carry with them the courage and dignity of an entire people."

BBC: 'Cuba not opening up to democracy' - released prisoners

2010-07-15T23:45:00.000-04:00

The BBC reports:

Former Cuban political prisoners have said their release does not signal a change in political conditions on the Communist-run island.

Nine dissidents arrived earlier this week in Spain under the terms of an agreement brokered with the help of the Catholic church in Cuba.

Normando Hernandez, one of the former prisoners, said Havana's motives should not be misunderstood.

He said that "Cuba is not opening up to democracy."

"I personally think it is a trick by the Cuban government. The economic needs on the island are huge. The social situation is critical, the political stagnation.

"This is why it is important to draw the international communities attention to this aspect of the Cuban government so they don't get fooled again," the dissident told the BBC in Madrid.

Mr Hernandez was imprisoned in 2003 allegedly for organising an independent college of journalism in Cuba.

He told the BBC that his health had been badly damaged by poor food and sanitary conditions during his seven years in jail.

More at the link.

(H/T Marc Masferrer)

The [Hungarian] Foreign Ministry's statement on the Release of the Cuban Prisoners

2010-07-15T17:42:00.002-04:00

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary welcomes the decision, that as a result of the mediation efforts by the Cuban Roman Catholic Church and Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos of Spain, Cuban authorities shall release 52 political prisoners, and considers this development an initial step towards the actual improvement of the human rights situation in Cuba.

Hungary deems it necessary that following a speedy and complete implementation of the relevant agreement of discharge, this process should continue, leading to an early and unconditional release of all political prisoners. Forced emigration of former political prisoners cannot be the solution; only dialogue within the society can open up a new chapter in this field as well.

Hungary is interested in witnessing real changes in the human rights situation in Cuba and in having social and economic reforms introduced. This could provide a new basis for cooperation between the EU, its Member States and Cuba.

Source: Kulugyminiszterium

PEN American Center: José Luis García, Léster González, and Normando Hernández Arrive Safely in Spain

2010-07-15T17:42:00.001-04:00

New York City, July 14, 2010—PEN American Center welcomed the news that Cuban journalists Normando Hernández González, Dr. José Luis García Paneque, and Léster Luis González Pentón, all high PEN priority cases who had been imprisoned since a March 2003 crackdown on dissent, have arrived safely in Madrid. García and González arrived with their families and four other released journalists on Tuesday, and Hernández arrived on a flight from Havana Wednesday with his family and another freed colleague.

“This really is a remarkable, hopeful moment for all who believe in the power of individual commitment and international solidarity to effect change,” said Larry Siems, Director of PEN American Center’s Freedom to Write and International Programs. “PEN has been inspired by the courage and endurance of these men and their families, and we have been inspired by the determination of PEN Members and journalists and human rights advocates around the world to see them free.”

The eight writers were released as part of a deal brokered by the Catholic Church and the Spanish Foreign Ministry, under which the Cuban government has agreed to release all remaining 52 dissidents imprisoned in the March 2003 “Black Spring” crackdown, when 75 journalists and activists were arrested. Those released and flown to Spain reportedly have the option of staying or traveling to the United States or Chile, where they have also been offered asylum.

José Luis García Paneque, a journalist with the Agencia Libertad press agency, librarian at the Carlos J. Finlay Library, and plastic surgeon, was arrested on March 18, 2003, and sentenced to 24 years in prison. He suffered numerous ailments while serving his sentence at Las Mangas Prison, Granma, and lost a considerable amount of weight. His wife was forced to flee Cuba and seek asylum in the United States, where she currently resides.

Léster Luis González Pentón, an independent journalist, was the youngest to be imprisoned during Black Spring, and was serving a 20-year sentence at the Prisión Penitencial “La Pendiente,” in Santa Clara in the state of Villa Clara when the orders for his release came through. His wife, mother, stepfather, and two sisters joined him in Madrid, according to reports.

Normando Hernández Gonzalez, who arrived in Madrid at approximately 1:30 p.m. local time with his wife and daughter, was serving a 25-year sentence for reporting on the conditions of state-run services in Cuba and for criticizing the government’s management of issues such as tourism, agriculture, fishing, and cultural affairs. Held in deplorable prison conditions, he was hospitalized repeatedly over the past seven years. As his health declined, PEN mounted an increasingly urgent campaign on his behalf, awarding Hernández the 2007 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award and pressing the Cuban government to provide him adequate medical care and grant him a humanitarian release.

“In the more than seven years since the ‘Black Spring’ crackdown, PEN Members have not only consistently pressed for the release of the imprisoned dissidents, we have also taken a personal interest in the plights of these imprisoned men, developing relationships with their families and sending the men cards, books, and even towels and toothbrushes in prison,” said Anna Kushner, PEN American Center Member and Freedom to Write Case Advocate. “Through conversations with their mothers and wives, we have received updates about the deteriorating state of the men’s health and the psychological strain of physical separation on all members of their families. It is an enormous relief to see these brave men free and reunited with their families, and with access to the medical attention at last that they so greatly need.”

“We hope that the Cuban government will follow up on these releases by allowing space for public dissent on the island, so that all writers and peaceful activists in Cuba are able to express themselves freely going forward without fear of repercussions,” she concluded.

PEN American Center is the largest of the 145 centers of International PEN, the world’s oldest human rights organization and the oldest international literary organization. The Freedom to Write Program of PEN American Center works to protect the freedom of the written word wherever it is imperiled. It defends writers and journalists from all over the world who are imprisoned, threatened, persecuted, or attacked in the course of carrying out their profession. For more information on PEN’s work, please visit www.pen.org.

The Miami Herald: Omar Rodríguez Saludes: "I left behind part of my family. I feel like I still have the cuffs on my hands.''

2010-07-15T10:49:00.002-04:00

By JUAN O. TAMAYO
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com

Two newly freed Cuban political prisoners arrived in Madrid on Wednesday, joining seven others just beginning to feel the shock of leaving their country and to consider whether they want to stay in Spain or move on to the United States.

One of the latest arrivals, Omar Rodríguez Saludes, told reporters he feels "like I was still in prison" because "I left behind part of my family. I feel like I still have the cuffs on my hands."

Rodríguez, 45, and Normando Hernández, 40, arrived Wednesday and were expected to be followed soon by Luis Milán and Mijail Barzaga. They would join the seven other political prisoners who were freed earlier this week and flown to Spain.

Hernández held a tearful reunion with his mother, Blanca González, who flew in from Miami. "I am very tense, very nervous, very emotional," González said.

Hernandez said that while he was ecstatic to see his mother, "I am an emotional wreck, and physically also. This has been terrible. I would not wish it on anyone."

"Everything has been a shock. I always thought the future would be in Cuba, not in exile," Rodriguez said. The change "has been abrupt, from a prison cell to the light of the airplane."

The ex-prisoners and the relatives they took with them to Spain were just beginning to consider their futures from a hotel in Madrid where the Spanish Red Cross put them up.

Omar Ruiz told The Associated Press that he wanted to join his wife's family in Miami. But José Luis García Paneque, who has a wife and four children in Texas, and Pablo Pacheco, who has several relatives in South Florida, said they want to stay in Spain for now.

"The only thing I ask of the Spanish people is the opportunity," Garcia declared. "Where I come from, no one had paid me so much attention."

AP: Cuba prisoners shared cells with rats, roaches

2010-07-15T10:48:00.002-04:00

We have denounced this. Others who have suffered in such conditions have denounced it. It is encouraging to see the international press finally beginning to pay attention to it.

MADRID — Freed Cuban political prisoners who were flown to Spain this week say their cells were rat- and roach-infested and that disease was rampant.

Julio Cesar Galvez told reporters at a press conference in Madrid on Thursday that "the hygiene and health situations in prisons throughout the island of Cuba are not terrible, they are worse than terrible."

He says "We had to live with rats and cockroaches... with excrement. It's not a lie."

Galvez is one of nine political prisoners released by Cuba and flown to Spain, part of a group of 52 activists being released in stages by the Cuban government after being imprisoned in a 2003 crackdown.

A 66-year-old journalist sentenced to 15 years, Galvez says there were outbreaks of dengue and tuberculosis in prison.

(H/T Babalublog)

The regime continues to prevent Ariel Sigler Amaya from leaving Cuba to receive medical attention

2010-07-15T09:36:00.002-04:00

Informs his brother, Miguel Sigler Amaya, in a note circulated [in Spanish] on Facebook. This is our translation:

During the afternoon of yesterday 14 July 2010, Ariel Sigler Amaya, and some of his relatives arrived at the [provincial] Immigration offices in the Cuban province of Matanzas, to obtain his “White Card” (Carta Blanca) or Permit to Leave the Country [which is required to leave Cuba in all cases]. They were received by an officer of the Ministry of Interior* named Mercedes who told them that it wasn’t yet the time to give them said document, and that he must wait.

This reply from the functionary aroused a protest from Ariel and his relatives which [in turn] caused a serious incident. Ariel Sigler displayed a sign that read “I AM DYING, [AND] SECURITY OF STATE DENIES MY PERMIT TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY.”

Several officers surrounded Ariel Sigler, and there were shoves and pushes, as well as shouts again the Castroite dictatorship. A few minutes later, a Security of State Lieutenant Colonel [whose last name is] Barreto, appeared and in a rude and aggressive fashion told them that this issue would be solved by Monday 19 July.

The entire Sigler Amaya family, including all the women and even the [gravely] ill Ariel Sigler as well as his wife, decided that if on Monday 19 July they have not yet received the Permit; they will start a hunger strike in a public place, and hold Security of State responsible for the outcome.

This delay by the Castroite dictatorship in issuing the Permit to Leave the Country to the gravely ill Ariel Sigler Amaya, who has a US government issued humanitarian visa because of his [multiple] illness[es]; contrasts [negatively] with the expedited manner in which several political prisoners have been exiled to Spain and to whom the regime has issued their travel papers in just three days.

* In charge, among other things of security, immigration and repression

Dozens arrested after honoring victims of 1994 tugboat massacre

2010-07-14T21:51:00.001-04:00

Independent press agency Hablemos Press informs [in Spanish] that dozens of opposition and human rights activists were arrested by police in Cuba this Tuesday after honoring the victims of the tugboat 13 de Marzo.

Arrests began in the [Cuban] capital at noon on Tuesday when a group of 30 people, convened at the city’s seawall (el Malecón) by Liga Cívica Martiana (Josè Martí Civic League) and other dissident movements, performed a public protest.

Opposition activists denounced the detentions and called them “arbitrary.” Many of them reported to this agency about their situations and the conditions of their arrests from inside police stations via telephone.

Among those arrested are Julián Guerra Deriet, Oscar Sierra Hernández, Flores Borroto, Niurka Caridad Ortega, Ernesto Rodríguez López, Carmelo Rodríguez Rodríguez, Raúl Parada Ramírez, Humberto Martínez Almeida, Hermógenes Inocencio Guerrero, Julio César Jorrín, Juana María Oquendo Gómez, Joel Lázaro Carbonel Aguilar, María Nélida López Báez, Manuel Morejón Soler, Luis Roberto Arcia Rodríguez and María Elena Mir Marrero in La Habana; Hugo Prieto Quevedo, Yosvanis Alonso Brito, Denis Díaz González and Nilo Justino Padrón in Pinar del Río and Rogelio Tabio López in Guantánamo.

Jorge Corrales Ceballo, independent journalist in Guantánamo and Luis Felipe Rojas, poet and journalist in Holguín, were placed under house arrest, and kept under tight surveillance by agents of the political police. In Santiago de Cuba, there were arrests, but the names [of those arrested] could not be confirmed.

Some of those arrested were released at night, after being issued warnings.

The tugboat 13 de Marzo was sunk a few miles off La Habana’s seawall (Malecón) by two other vessels under government orders on 13 July 1994. Forty-one persons died in the, among them 11 children who [were trying to escape Cuba].

A picture worth a thousand words

2010-07-14T16:52:00.000-04:00

Marc Masferrer has pictures of the arrival in Madrid of just-released Cuban political prisoner and independent journalist, Normando Hernández.

Photo from AP

As Marc says, these pictures tell part of the story.

UPDATED: Not all political prisoners are willing to be exiled

2010-07-14T16:38:00.001-04:00

Our campaign has learned, and reported through Cuban bloggers and other dissidents and opposition activists, the names of many political prisoners who have refused to be banished to Spain. Here is an updated list of their names:

Pedro Argüelles
Eduardo Díaz Fleitas
Regis Iglesias
Oscar Elías Biscet
Librado Linares
José Daniel Ferrer
Arnaldo Ramos Lauzerique
Iván Hernández Carrillo
Fidel Suárez Cruz
Diosdado González Marrero

AFP: Two more Cuban dissidents arrive in Spain: ministry

2010-07-14T16:34:00.000-04:00

MADRID — Two more freed Cuban dissidents arrived in Spain on Wednesday, a day after the first batch from a total of 52 political prisoners who are being released by Havana, the foreign ministry said.

Journalists Normando Hernandez, 40, and Omar Rodriguez, 44, arrived at Madrid's Barajas airport on an Iberia flight along with 13 family members, a ministry spokesman said.

Seven others arrived in Spain on Tuesday, following Cuba's surprise deal with the Roman Catholic Church on July 7 to gradually free 52 detainees after dissident hunger striker Guillermo Farinas nearly starved to death.

It is the largest release of political prisoners since 1998 when 300 dissidents were spared jail time by a presidential pardon following a visit by then-pope John Paul II.

Havana wants to avoid a repeat of the death in detention of political prisoner Orlando Zapata on February 23 as it seeks closer international ties to improve its grim economic situation.

The seven dissidents who arrived in Madrid on Tuesday said their release heralded a new era for the communist island nation.

"This signifies the start of a new stage for the future of Cuba and all Cubans," they said in a joint statement after they arrived.

But experts point out that the mass release in 1998 was not followed by any large-scale lifting of oppressive measures since then, as hoped at the time.

"For me, this is a dream, it seems like what I am living is not real," one of the seven dissidents who arrived in Spain on Tuesday, Lester Gonzalez Penton, told AFP at a motel in suburban Madrid where they are staying.

The 33-year-old was accompanied by his wife, his mother, his stepfather and two sisters but had to leave his eight-year-old daughter from another relationship behind in Cuba because her mother would not let the girl leave.

"I am happy to be with my family but also sad for having abandoned my country," added Penton, an opposition journalist who was serving a 20-year prison term.

Julio Cesar Galvez, another one of the seven dissidents who arrived on Tuesday, said going from living in a small cell "without air, with mice, rats, cockroaches and scorpions" to being free and in Spain had been a "sudden change".

The 65-year-old said he would like to work as a journalist again.

He was dismissed from Cuban public radio in 2001 for secretly working for US media outlets like the Voice of America and was serving a 15-year sentence.

Twenty of the 52 dissidents being freed by Cuba this time around have agreed to emigrate to Spain.

All 52 dissidents were sentenced in 2003 to prison terms of between six and 28 years.

Another two dissidents, Luis Milan, 40, and Mijail Barzaga, 43, will arrive in Madrid on Thursday, the Spanish foreign ministry spokesman said.

Spain, the former colonial power in Cuba and the largest foreign investor in the country, helped broker the deal between the Cuban government and the Church.

Speaking during an annual state of the nation debate in parliament, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said he was pleased with the "influence" which Madrid had demonstrated during the talks.

Spain has said it is willing to receive all of the prisoners after their release.

Biscet, nine others refuse forced deportation

2010-07-14T09:51:00.000-04:00

Reports the Capitol Hill Cubans blog.

According to The Miami Herald:
Cuba's best-known political prisoner and nine others will refuse to leave for Spain if freed, relatives said, while the seven former prisoners who arrived in Madrid on Tuesday vowed to continue their activism from exile [...]

Although Cuba's leading political prisoner, Oscar Elías Biscet, was not part of the 75, his name has been included in some versions of the lists of dissidents to be released under the Castro-church agreement.

Biscet has already decided not to go into exile and remain in Cuba as a human rights activist if he's freed, his wife of 19 years, Elsa Morejón, told El Nuevo Herald by telephone from Havana.

"He has always said no, and he's still saying no" to leaving the island, added Morejón, who spoke Saturday by phone with Biscet at Havana's Combinado del Este prison. "And I respect his position."

Morejón said Biscet also told her Havana Cardinal Jaime Ortega had not phoned him to ask if he wanted to leave the island -- as Ortega has done with most of the others.

Prison authorities also have told him nothing about a possible release.

Biscet, 49, a physician last arrested in 2002 and now serving a 25-year sentence, was detained dozens of times between 1997 and 1999.

From 1999 until today, he was free only 36 days. In 2007, he won the U.S. Medal of Freedom, awarded by the George W. Bush administration.

Morejón identified the other prisoners refusing to go into exile -- all part of the 75 -- as Eduardo Diaz Fleitas, Regis Iglesias Ramirez, Pedro Argüelles Moran, Librado Linares, Jose Daniel Ferrer, Arnaldo Lauzerique, Ivan Hernández Carrillo, Fidel Suarez Cruz and Diosdado Gonzalez Marrero.

Neither Cuban nor church authorities have explained what would happen to the political prisoners who refuse to move abroad once they are freed.

AP: Freed Cubans face uncertain future in a Spain suffering from debt crisis

2010-07-14T08:44:00.000-04:00

MADRID (AP) - As Spain prepares to receive more political prisoners from Cuba, the seven who have already arrived with their families are welcoming their newfound freedom but face an uncertain future in a country heavily burdened with debt.

A Spanish foreign ministry spokesman says three more free Cubans will arrive on Wednesday.

The freed Cubans said in interviews that Spain is a gift compared with the prisons where they were held in Cuba.

They left Cuba with just a few suitcases, and at least one had no money and no change of clothes.

A total of 20 have agreed to move to Spain.

AFP: Dissidents' release does not signal Cuban shift: experts

2010-07-14T08:43:00.000-04:00

Cuba's decision to release 52 political prisoners Havana does not signal any shift in the communist regime's hold over the island, US analysts said Tuesday.

Havana's release of seven of the dissidents to Spain Monday, ahead of four more expected transfers in the coming days, came as former Cuba leader Fidel Castro's gave his first television interview in almost a year, a move that analysts said was to distract the population of the one-party state.

Castro's appearance "contradicts those who thought there might be a change underway in Cuba, or a move towards closer, better relations with the United States," Jaime Suchlicki, director of the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, told AFP.

"Nothing has changed in Cuba" following the dissidents' release, he said, adding that while President Raul Castro was handling day-to-day leadership in the country, "the important decisions, especially in foreign policy" were still being made in consultation with his older brother, Fidel.

Some observers have seen the releases as signalling a shift away from decades of hardline policy by Fidel and Raul, but critics have been quick to shoot down such a possibility.

The previous large-scale release of prisoners came in 1998, following a visit by then-pope John Paul II, with 300 dissidents spared jail time by a presidential pardon. Experts point out that that move was not followed by any large-scale lifting of oppressive measures since then, as hoped at the time.

The releases to Spain "do not imply a change in the repressive regime," insisted Angel De Fana, Miami-based director of the group Plantados of former Cuban political prisoners.

"These people are forced to leave because if they wanted to stay in Cuba, they would remain under a totalitarian regime and go back to being incarcerated."

The purpose of Fidel's TV appearance, according to Cuba expert Uva de Aragon at Florida International University, "was to distract attention from the release of the political prisoners."

After previous releases of dissidents, noted de Aragon, an associate director at Florida's Cuban Research Institute, "nothing changed, as other prisoners are taken."

Cuba agreed to gradually free 52 political prisoners -- the biggest gesture of its kind in a decade -- in a surprise deal between the Roman Catholic Church after a hunger strike to near-death by dissident Guillermo Farinas.

And according to the Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Commission, even after all the 52 inmates are released, there will still be 115 political prisoners held in Cuba, the only one-party Communist system in the Americas, where censorship is enforced with an iron fist.

US officials have said the release of political prisoners is a necessary step before the two governments can improve their often strained relations, with a decades-long US trade embargo still in place.

The Cuban government, however, which consistently skirts the issue in its official media outlets, still denies holding any political prisoners, saying they are mercenaries in the pay of the United States.

AFP: Four more Cuban dissidents to arrive in Spain

2010-07-14T08:39:00.000-04:00

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Four more political prisoners who are among the 52 who Cuba has authorised to leave the country will arrive in Spain over the next two days, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said yesterday.

"Another four are due to arrive," he told parliament just hours after seven other Cuban dissidents and 33 of their close family members arrived in Madrid.

A foreign ministry spokesman identified the four who will arrive over the next two days as Omar Rodriguez, Normando Hernandez Gonzalez, Luis Milan and Mijail Barzaga.

Cuba agreed last Wednesday to gradually free 52 political prisoners -- the biggest gesture of its kind in a decade -- in a surprise deal between the Roman Catholic Church after a hunger strike to near-death by dissident Guillermo Farinas.

"The scenario which is emerging in Cuba... reveals a new desire on the part of the Cuban government... to wrap up the release of political prisoners... and advance with social and economic reforms," Moratinos added.

According to Cuban dissidents, there will still be 115 political prisoners in Cuba, the only one-party Communist regime in the Americas, even after all the 52 dissidents are released.

Spain, which helped broker the deal between the Cuban government and the Church, has said it is willing to receive all of the prisoners after their release.

Church officials have said that so far, 20 of the 52 had agreed to leave Cuba, a former Spanish colony, for Spain.

"Némesis" in Madrid

2010-07-13T23:18:00.005-04:00

Cuban-born artist Geandy Pavón has taken his art-protest “Némesis” to Madrid. The performance consists of digitally projecting onto the façade of buildings the image of Cuban political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who recently succumbed to a hunger strike.

In Greek mythology, “Némesis” represents divine justice─a persecutory memory. With this creation, Pavón “imposes the face of the victim upon the assassin, using light as an analogy of truth, reason, and justice.”

The performance has been made in New York, Washinton, and Barcelona before. At this time, Pavón dedicated the event "To the memory of Olga Guillot, and all the Cubans who died in the hope of seeing a free Cuba".

RSF reacts to release of its correspondent in Cuba

2010-07-13T11:54:00.000-04:00

Reporters Without Borders today reacted with delight to the release yesterday of its correspondent Ricardo González Alfonso, along with that of several other Cuban journalists and political opposition figures.

The worldwide press freedom organisation’s correspondent, aged 60, who is originally from Havana, was arrested during the “black spring” of March 2003, along with 27 of his colleagues. The married man, who is father of two children, was sentenced on 7 April to 20 years in prison for “acts against the independence and territorial integrity of the state”. At the time he was president of the Manuel Márquez Sterling society, a banned journalists’ organisation and was head of the magazine, De Cuba, the first such independent publication on the island since the founding of the Castro regime.

González Alfonso arrived this morning in Spain accompanied by his family. Seven Cuban political prisoners, including five journalists also arrived in Madrid: José Luis García Paneque (of the news agency Libertad), Pablo Pacheco Ávila (CAPI news agency), Omar Moisés Ruiz Hernández (Grupo de Trabajo Decoro agency) and Julio César Gálvez Rodríguez (a freelance journalist). The Spanish section of Reporters Without Borders welcomed him on arrival at Barajas airport.

They were the first group of Cuban political prisoners to be released following last week’s announcement by the spokesman for Cuba’s Catholic Church of a wave of releases granted by the Castro regime, due also to the intervention of the Spanish government in the person of its foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos.

These releases, including the long-awaited freedom of our correspondent Ricardo González Alfonso, marks the beginning of the opening announced by the regime. It should not however be allowed to mask the reality of the tragic state of human rights in Cuba.

Reporters Without Borders welcomes these releases but points out that “exile” to Spain cannot constitute a humane and satisfactory solution. These releases should unquestionably include a recognition of the right of political opponents to live in their own country and defend their opinions openly without fear of reprisals.

The organisation called on Latin American countries to intervene more actively with the Cuban government on the issue of human rights in Cuba and to stop closing their eyes to constant violations.

Reporters Without Borders also calls on the United States to at least ease its embargo on Cuba that has been in force since 1962. It considers that the unfair measure against the Cuban people allows the regime to justify some human rights violations including accusing political opponents of being “mercenaries in the pay of the United States”.

This wave of releases negotiated by the Cuban church and the Spanish government is the largest since Raul Castro succeeded his brother Fidel Castro four years ago. The organisation believes that with this move towards openness the regime has genuinely taken a step forward in this longed for and vital process. Nothing can justify that a people should be denied their most basic rights. This situation can no longer be tolerated and these releases should be accompanied by real change, it added.

(H/T Marc Masferrer)

Europa Press: First released Cuban political prisoners hold press conference after their arrival in Madrid airport

2010-07-13T10:31:00.003-04:00

EuropaPress* - The first seven Cuban dissidents released from prison by the regime in La Habana have arrived in Madrid this Tuesday, and have stated that their release is the result of the protests of their late comrade Orlando Zapata Tamayo, independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas, and of the Cuban exile in favor of freedom in the island.

At a press conference after their arrival at Madrid-Barajas Airport, one of the freed dissidents, Julio César Gálvez, has read a communiqué in the name of all his comrades. In the communiqué they state that the opening of this process of dialog between the Castroite regime and the Cuban [Catholic] Church that has allowed their release “has been possible because of the fight and decisive support of thousands of Cubans for freedom, democracy and peace.”

Within this fight, they have especially highlighted the “martyrdom of Orlando Zapata, the demands of Guillermo Fariñas [expressed through] 135 days of hunger strike” and “the unbreakable faith and resistance of the Ladies in White and the Cuban exile (…) with the important participation of the Cuban [Catholic] Church.”

Gálvez has also thanked the Spanish government on behalf of his colleagues for its “role of companion” in this dialog. Answering a question from a journalist, another one of the released, Ricardo González Alfonso, has assured them that they do not feel “manipulated” by the Castroite regime.

The [Spanish] Undersecretary [of Foreign Affairs] for Latin America, Juan Pablo de Laiglesia, who was with the released at the conference, remarked that the Spanish government will work to “facilitate their integration into Spanish society.”

These seven political prisoners —that are part of a larger group of 20 who, according to the Archdiocese of La Habana, have already consented to travel to Spain after being released from prison— will spend two days in several hotels in Madrid until [several Spanish NGOs] take charge of them and distribute them around reception centers in different parts of the country. These NGOs have offered shelter, monetary support and employment advice to all Cuban political prisoners travelling to Spain.

This is our translation.

Carlos Alberto Montaner: Raúl Castro, the Church and the prisoners

2010-07-13T09:57:00.000-04:00

(FIRMAS PRESS) In Cuba, one is jailed or released for reasons of state, not of law. Raúl Castro has decided to free 52 prisoners of conscience. It's his least-bad option. This time, the opposition defeated him. The heroic resistance of the Cuban democrats, their relatives and the rest of the dissident movement was destroying the already battered image of the dictatorship. Since 1962, this episode has been repeated with some frequency. The regime fills the prisons and then needs to evacuate them. For half a century, thousands of Cuban political prisoners have been caged without any reason or released for strategic reasons before they could serve their sentences.

How does the regime perform an “outcarceration”? This is where the Catholic Church came in. And this is the novel part. Raúl does not believe in God but does believe in priests. To him, God is an incomprehensible abstraction, while the Church is part of the tangible Cuban reality. For his part, Cardinal Jaime Ortega does not believe in communism but does believe in Raúl Castro. He assumes that Raúl, in contrast to Fidel, sincerely desires to introduce substantial changes in the country's social and economic sectors, because he understands that Cuba's society is foundering amid unproductiveness, corruption and an absolute lack of trust in a clumsy system that has carried it to disaster.

Raúl has discovered a phenomenon that's typical of societies in the process of transformation: to change course, power requires an interlocutor who is foreign to its own nature. Many years ago, Adolfo Suárez told me: “I needed the communists and the socialists to bury Francoism and bring democracy to Spain.” Raúl, who still does not dare to dialogue with the opposition, needs the Church – for now. It's not a bad decision. Maybe he'll get used to it and use it for other changes in the future. It could be useful for everyone.

Raúl, who governs through a group of obedient army officers, feels that he cannot take the issue of amnesty before the Cuban Parliament or the Communist Party, because those institutions, which are in silent revolt, have been trained to obey, not to deliberate. It would be very dangerous for him today to open a debate within structures of power pervaded by an explosive mixture of incredulity with the dogmas of the sect, uncertainty over the practical results of the government's model, and total dissatisfaction with two brothers who have done as they've pleased in half a century of blunders and arbitrariness.

For its part, the Church accepted the responsibility knowing that it was going to be battered by Tyrians and Trojans, because that's one role it cannot shirk: to aid society in tragic moments. That's what we saw in the South Africa of Episcopal Bishop Desmond Tutu and in the Sandinist Nicaragua of Miguel Obando y Bravo. They are very different situations, but the basic issue is the same: the Institution serves as a facilitator of solutions. It becomes a vehicle to accelerate changes and prevent violence. Naturally, it also seeks to regain its influence. Nothing evil in that.

Yoani Sanchez: Cuban Political Prisoner Offered Exit to Spain: "No... This is My Place to Fight for Freedom."

2010-07-13T09:12:00.000-04:00

This is the entire interview as it appears today on The Huffington Post*:

Today I had the opportunity to interview Pedro Arguelles, one of the 52 political prisoners planned to be released following recent negotiations between Cuban President Raul Castro, Havana Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Ortego, and Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. The first group of released prisoners were flown out of Havana heading to Madrid this evening. An audio of the interview, in Spanish of course, can be heard here. Following is a transcript in English.

Interview with Pedro Arguelles

Yoani Sanchez: What is your current situation? Where are you and what have they told you?

Pedro Arguelles: I'm in the provincial prison of Canaletas in Ciego de Avila. And what I have been told is on Saturday, July 10, I went to the office of the head of the prison and there they put me through on the phone to talk to the Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega. He informed me that I was on the list of those who would leave for Spain if I would agree to go. I told him that no, I had no interest in leaving my country. He asked me about my wife as well, if she would have any interest. I said no. Well, he told me, he would report back and he said goodbye. That is all I have been told, they haven't told me anything more, I'm here waiting for events and their development.

Yoani Sanchez: Pedro, do you think these releases will strengthen or weaken the dissident movement and independent journalism inside Cuba?

Pedro Arguelles: Well, look, whether or not it will affect the strength honestly I can't say right now because I am here inside and I've been here seven and a half years, here in the prison. I know there are new groups, I know there are new people doing independent journalism, carrying on the civil struggle. I think it doesn't weaken it because in any case there are new pines, as our apostle Jose Marti said, and well, since 1976 when the first cell of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights was created in the Combinado del Este prison, that was the first cell, and we could get to this point because there have been relays, reliefs, there have been people who have carried on, people who died, new people coming out into the public arena. So I think that, ultimately, here we fulfill the law that everyone has the right and the freedom to decide for their own person, my brothers who would like to go I have absolutely nothing against them, that is their sovereign decision, it is their freedom. I make use of the thoughts of Marti who said that the duty of a man is to be where he is most useful. I believe that here is where I am most useful, that this is my place to fight for the rights and freedom inherent in the dignity of the human person and this is where I want to be. I don't want to be in any other place, here on the front line of combat facing the Castros' totalitarian regime.

Yoani Sanchez: And what will Pedro Arguelles do once he is outside Canaletas prisons?

Pedro Arguelles: Continue what we started in mid-1992 when I joined the Cuban Committee for Human Rights here in Ciego de Avila and then in 1998 founded the Ciego de Avila Independent Journalists Cooperative. Continue to denounce human rights violations and continue with the independent press and civil struggle. In order to achieve what we have so longed for and suffered for, the transition to democracy in Cuba.

Yoani Sanchez: Well, Pedro, thank you very much and we really hope that your name is among the next to be freed. We wish so much to give you that embrace so long postponed.

Pedro Arguelles: Some day it will happen, and I too am longing to meet with all all these new pines that have arisen.

Yoani Sanchez: Well, thank you very much.

Pedro Arguelles: A hug.

*This is not our translation.

BBC: Who are the first Cuban dissidents flown out to Spain?

2010-07-13T09:01:00.002-04:00

The first dissidents released by the Cuban authorities as part of a deal to free 52 in total worked as journalists or campaigned for political reforms.
They were arrested in 2003, during what became known as the Black Spring. Some 75 activists were jailed during the crackdown.

Like many Cuban dissidents, the prisoners were adopted by human and media rights groups like PEN, Reporters without Borders and Amnesty International.

Keeping in touch with the prisoners' families and friends, these organisations compiled what little information was to be had about the men locked up in various prisons around the country.

The seven dissidents flown to Spain are:

Ricardo Gonzalez

Journalist Ricardo Gonzalez worked for the independent news agency Cuba Press and was Cuba correspondent for the media rights group Reporters Without Borders.

He also edited the independent fortnightly magazine De Cuba and was one of the founders of the Manuel Marquez Sterling Association in May 2001, an organisation that trains independent journalists.

Mr Gonzalez was arrested in March 2003 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for "being in the pay of the United States" and "undermining Cuba's independence and territorial integrity."

He was jailed in Havana's Combinado del Este prison and has suffered from various health problems, including a heart condition.

In 2008 the media rights group named Mr Gonzalez Reporter of the Year, praising his efforts to help "an independent press survive in Cuba". He turned 60 in February.

Lester Gonzalez Penton

At 26, Lester Gonzalez was the youngest of the dissidents detained in Cuba in March 2003.

The independent journalist was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and sent to a jail in Santa Clara.

To protest against poor prison conditions Mr Gonzalez went on hunger strike several times, Pen reported.

He had to undergo a hernia operation in 2008 and suffered from chronic gastritis and other health problems, Pen said.

Julio Cesar Galvez

65-year-old Julio Cesar Galvez was one of the journalists, writers and librarians arrested in 2003.

Having worked for official Cuban media organisations for 24 years, he became an independent journalist in 2001.

Mr Galvez was jailed for 15 years and locked up in Havana's Combinado del Este prison, where he suffered from respiratory problems and other ailments, Pen reported.

In 2009 his wife, Irene Viera Silloy, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that her husband was allowed one family visit every two months.

She also said that Mr Galvez continued to write in prison.

Pablo Pacheco Avila

Pablo Pacheco Avila is an independent journalist who worked for two independent news agencies. After his arrest in March 2003 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Pen believes that the 40-year-old's health problems in Moron prison in Ciego de Avila are believed to have included acute gastritis and severe headaches.

In 2009 the dissident received special recognition for his work as a journalist under threat at Amnesty International's Media Awards.

Jose Luis Garcia Paneque

Originally a plastic surgeon, Jose Luis Paneque is said to have been sacked because of his political views. He then became an independent journalist and librarian.

Mr Garcia Paneque was sentenced to 24 years in prison after his arrest in 2003.

The 44-year-old is said to have acute stomach problems, chronic pneumonia and a kidney tumour.

His wife and children reportedly left Cuba for Texas in June 2007 after being harassed by the Cuban authorities.

Omar Moises Ruiz Hernandez

Omar Moises Ruiz Hernandez worked for two independent Cuban news agencies before he was arrested in March 2003 and sentenced to 18 years in prison.

He was also involved in the official Partido Solidaridad Democratica (Democratic Solidarity Party).

Human rights organisations believe that he has been treated badly in Nieves Morejon prison in Guayos and had to spent time in solitary confinement and punishment cells.

Like many of the other dissident prisoners, the 62-year-old is said to suffer from various illnesses, including pneumonia.

Antonio Villarreal

The 59-year-old economist and librarian Antonio Villarreal was involved in the Varela Project, a petition asking for a national referendum on political changes in Cuba.

Mr Villarreal was sentenced to 15 years in prison after his arrest in March 2003.

He is believed to have been in bad health during at least some of his imprisonment in Villa Clara province.

AP: 7 political prisoners from Cuba arrive in Spain

2010-07-13T08:56:00.000-04:00

By JORGE SAINZ (AP)

MADRID — Spain says seven former political prisoners from Cuba have arrived in Spain after being released in their homeland.
The Foreign Ministry official said the former prisoners — all men — arrived Tuesday on two separate flights from Havana.

They are the first of 52 such inmates that Cuban authorities have promised to free after Roman Catholic Church reached an agreement last week with the government to free those still imprisoned from a 2003 crackdown that jailed 75 activists.

Spain, which took part in the negotiations, agreed to accept the first group.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with ministry regulations.

PEN American Center hails release of Cuban recipient of 2007 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, Normando Hernández

2010-07-12T18:04:00.001-04:00

New York City, July 11, 2010—PEN American Center President Kwame Anthony Appiah* hailed the news that journalist Normando Hernández González was freed from prison yesterday morning in Cuba, calling the release “a very hopeful sign” and “an enormous relief to PEN and to all those around the world who have followed his ordeal.”

Hernández was arrested on March 18, 2003, one of 75 writers and activists jailed in a major crackdown on dissent, and sentenced to 25 years in prison for reporting on the conditions of state-run services in Cuba and for criticizing the government’s management of issues such as tourism, agriculture, fishing, and cultural affairs. Held in deplorable prison conditions, he was hospitalized repeatedly over the past seven years. As his health declined, PEN mounted an increasingly urgent campaign on his behalf, awarding Hernández the 2007 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award and pressing the Cuban government to provide him adequate medical care and grant him a humanitarian release.

Hernández’s release yesterday is part of an announced agreement between Cuban authorities and the Catholic Church to free 52 political prisoners, all jailed since the March 2003 crackdown. He will reportedly fly to Spain with his wife and daughter on Tuesday.

“We are enormously relieved that Normando Hernandez Gonzalez is free and reunited with his family, and that he will soon find refuge and the medical treatment he so desperately needs in Spain,” Appiah said. “After a seven-year ordeal that undermined his health and brought endless anguish to his family, he deserves this respite. We salute his endurance and courage, and the endurance and courage of all those who have been jailed in Cuba in violation of their right to freedom of expression. We will be working to ensure that they, too, are released.”

PEN American Center is the largest of the 145 centers of International PEN, the world’s oldest human rights organization and the oldest international literary organization. The Freedom to Write Program of PEN American Center works to protect the freedom of the written word wherever it is imperiled. It defends writers and journalists from all over the world who are imprisoned, threatened, persecuted, or attacked in the course of carrying out their profession. For more information on PEN’s work, please visit www.pen.org.

*Mr Appiah is one of the public figures who have signed our Declaration.

CNA: First 11 freed Cuban [political] prisoners to arrive in Spain on Tuesday

2010-07-12T16:23:00.000-04:00

Catholic News Agency reports:

Havana, Cuba, Jul 12, 2010 / 02:42 pm (CNA).- Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Miguel Angel Moratinos, who was in Cuba in recent days, said Monday that the first 11 political prisoners to be freed will arrive in Spain on July 13 on two separate flights.

The first flight operated by Air Europa will land at 1 p.m., and the second operated by Iberia, will touch down an hour later. Both flights will depart from Havana on Monday evening.

Moratinos said the 11 prisoners will arrive in Spain accompanied by their families, all together totaling some 65 people.

Upon arrival, the freed Cubans will have to decide where they wish to live, whether in Spain or elsewhere, but “of course they will have the support and assistance of the Spanish government,” Moratinos stated.

In this sense, he explained that through entities such as the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid and the Spanish Red Cross, logistical support will be given to the Cubans, so that they can secure a place to live. Once the political prisoners are “free citizens they shall enjoy all of their rights,” Moratinos said.

US Today: Chile opens door to Cubans awaiting prison release

2010-07-12T10:25:00.000-04:00

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile says it will take in Cuban dissidents released by the communist government.

A spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno says he is trying to help liberate Cuba's dissidents.

The Cuban government has agreed to gradually free 52 prisoners last week after meeting with Cuba's Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega, and 17 have accepted asylum in Spain.

Moreno made the offer to Spain's foreign minister, who brokered the meeting. His spokeswoman spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity because she cannot be named under ministry policy.

Moreno did not talk to Cuban officials directly. Cuba has not commented on its promised release of political prisoners.

NYT: Cuban Prisoner Releases Shift Focus to Dissidents

2010-07-12T09:25:00.001-04:00

By MARC LACEY
MEXICO CITY — The Cuban government’s announcement last week that it will release 52 political prisoners has done little to quell the island’s fiercest critics, who are asking President Raúl Castro, “What about the rest?”

But exactly how many people are said to remain jailed on the island because of their political beliefs varies widely, depending on who is doing the counting. On the low side, Amnesty International says that only one confirmed prisoner of conscience will remain in Cuba should the Castro government follow through on its plans to release all 52 in the coming months. That one prisoner is the lawyer Rolando Jiménez Posada, and the human rights group — which coined the term prisoner of conscience in the 1960s — called on Cuba to immediately release him as well.

Before the announcement of the latest planned release, the Cuban Commission on Human Rights, an independent group that is tolerated on the island but not recognized by the government, put the number of political prisoners at 167, which it said was the lowest since the 1959 revolution in which Fidel Castro came to power. Its new figure, should all 52 get out, will be 115.

Other groups, however, say the real figure is much higher. Human Rights Watch does not specify an exact number, but includes in its tally scores of people who have been arrested in recent years for the vague Cuban crime of “dangerousness."

Some former prisoners contend that there is a political element to so many detentions in Cuba — and that the government does not allow adequate legal representation to those it wants isolated. They say the real number probably reaches into the thousands.

“If the Castro tyranny really would like to make a good faith gesture, it ought to liberate all those prisoners in its dungeons,” said Miguel Sigler Amaya, an activist now based in Miami who spent two years in a Cuban prison for “disobedience” and “resistance,” and contends that thousands of fellow Cubans are detained on similarly nebulous charges. One of his brothers, Ariel, a political prisoner, was released last month after suffering health problems in prison, and another, Guido, is among those expected to be released.

The brothers were among the activists and journalists rounded up by the government in March 2003 in a mass crackdown on dissent known as Black Spring. Those detainees were arrested on various charges and convicted after brief, closed trials. Their sentences ranged from six years to 28 years.

For its part, the Cuban government puts the number of political prisoners that it is holding at zero. Fidel Castro, the ailing former president, acknowledged holding thousands of prisoners of conscience decades ago, but in recent years he has said that Cuban jails hold only common criminals and those who illegally acted as paid agents of the United States.

One reason for the varying figures is the definition of who, exactly, is a political prisoner. Another is that the Cuban government has not allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit its prisons.

Agreement on a precise figure is unlikely, as is determining why President Castro chose to make his drastic announcement now. Another looming question is how the United States, which has long called for the release of Cuba’s political prisoners and has welcomed those released in the past, will respond to President Castro’s overture.

“It’s something that is overdue but nevertheless very welcome.” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters last week.

Acknowledging that its figure is on the low side, Amnesty International defines prisoners of conscience as those inmates jailed for their beliefs who have been found not to have used or advocated violence.

“Some other ones may not be on our radar,” said a spokeswoman for the group, Guadalupe Marengo, who noted that Amnesty had not been permitted to visit Cuba to conduct research in more than two decades.

Amnesty International said Mr. Posada, the one remaining Cuban inmate it considers a prisoner of conscience and thus entitled to immediate release, was given a 12-year sentence in 2003 for “disrespecting authority and revealing secrets about state security police,” after he participated in a peaceful demonstration calling attention to the plight of political prisoners.

Human Rights Watch, which conducted a surreptitious study inside Cuba last year, documented more than 40 cases of people imprisoned for “dangerousness” since Raúl Castro replaced his brother in 2006, as well as scores of other people sentenced for violating laws that criminalize free expression and association.

Noting that Cuba has conducted prisoner releases in the past and then gone on to fill its jails with even more political dissidents, Human Rights Watch said that the country’s judicial system clearly needed an overhaul.

“The international community needs to pressure Cuba to go beyond the periodic release of jailed dissidents and instead dismantle the repressive laws, courts and security forces that put them in prison in the first place,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, who secured the release of six prisoners from Cuba in 1995.

One aspect of the planned release that has critics of the Cuban government upset are reports that once the prisoners are liberated, they are to be flown out of the country, and thus will be far less able to continue their activism and hold the government accountable.

But Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Havana’s Roman Catholic archbishop, who played a critical role in negotiating the releases, suggested that leaving Cuba would be an option, not a requirement, for the former prisoners. The first 17 are expected to travel to Spain as early as Monday, church officials said. Others may choose other countries or decide to stay in Cuba, they said.

The decision, which was first reported by the Roman Catholic Church but later appeared in the Communist Party newspaper Granma, although with no mention that the inmates to be released were political prisoners, prompted the activist Guillermo Fariñas to end the hunger strike he had begun in February to press the government to release ailing prisoners.

But Mr. Fariñas would not take credit for the planned release. A statement that his supporters pressed up to a window in the hospital where he remained Sunday said, “Only Cuba, our nation, has won.”

Antonio Betancourt contributed reporting.

BBC: Spain set to receive Cuban dissidents on Tuesday

2010-07-12T09:11:00.000-04:00

The first group of dissidents freed by the Cuban government is set to arrive in Madrid on a scheduled flight on Tuesday, Spanish officials say.

It was still not clear how many would be on the first flight, an official at the Spanish foreign ministry said.

Last week, the Cuban government, the Catholic Church and the visiting Spanish foreign minister agreed a deal to secure the release of 52 dissidents.

Cuba's ex-leader Fidel Castro will be on TV on Monday, official media say.

The official Communist Party newspaper, Granma, said Fidel Castro would appear on television and radio in the evening to discuss his concerns about the Middle East.

Mr Castro has not been seen in public since July 2006 when he had emergency surgery.

Photographs emerged at the weekend showing the 83-year-old former president smiling and greeting workers.

The images were published as the Cuban government began steps to release the first dissidents.

The authorities have gathered several political prisoners and their families at separate locations in Havana.

A Spanish foreign ministry official in Madrid said the first freed prisoners were expected to take a scheduled flight from Cuba on Monday evening.

Over the coming days, 17 freed dissidents are expected in Spain.

On Sunday, a dissident group known as the Ladies in White staged its weekly march calling for the release of their relatives.

Protests continue

There were slightly fewer protesters than usual as some had been taken to a government facility before going to the airport to join their husbands on a flight to Spain.

The prisoner release, which could become the biggest this decade on the communist-ruled island, was announced last Wednesday.

Under the agreement, 52 political prisoners will eventually be freed.

All were part of a group of 75 dissidents rounded up in 2003 and sentenced to jail terms of between six and 28 years.

Leader of the Ladies in White Laura Pollan said their marches would continue.

"While there is one political prisoner or prisoner of conscience, there will be Ladies in White," said Ms Pollan.

"This is what we pledged from the beginning and the Ladies will keep that promise."

Cuba has always denied that it has political prisoners, calling them mercenaries paid by the US to undermine Havana's rule.