The Cardinal and the Ladies in White, cartoon by ArístidesBy Ernesto Ariel Suárez
Havana’s archbishop, Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino, has made seemingly disparate moves and statements this past weekend. He met with the Ladies in White, stated that through his intercession with the Castro regime, they would be allowed to march without interference, and publicly asked the regime to respect them. However, Monsignor Ortega also called on Guillermo Fariñas to “be flexible” on his position, and to end his hunger strike. The Cardinal did not mention the causes for Fariñas’s hunger strike: the 26 prisoners of conscience that are on such precarious health that some of them are teetering on the verge of death. The Cardinal did not call on the Cuban government to answer Fariñas’ demands, and free these prisoners. The Cardinal did not ask the regime to free any other political prisoners.
As a Cuban Catholic, I am aware of the sometimes extreme difficulties to operate that the Church has faced and continues to face in Cuba. I can understand the difficult position in which the Church’s hierarchy, especially Monsignor Ortega, finds itself while trying to function within the tight control of the Stalinist dictatorship. I can also imagine the pressure from the Vatican hierarchy, some of whose members are not shy about their sympathies for the Castro regime. I welcome His Eminence’s recent statements on the state of crisis of Cuban society, on the urgent need for change, and his more recent ones about the Ladies in White and their plight.
I am also aware that many Cuban Catholics support the opposition, and that many of them, like the Ladies in White, Oswaldo Payá and Dania Virgen García, are part of that movement. Many Catholics risk their lives and whatever very little personal freedom they have daily to peacefully oppose and end a bloody and unjust regime that has sent many of us to prison, exile and death.
I call on His Eminence to listen to those Cuban Catholics, and to remember the words of the Holy Father said to him when he was elevated to the office he now occupies, on the Sixth Ordinary Consistory, November 26th, 1994:
“This red is a sign of the dignity of the office of Cardinal. It means that you must be ready to act with fortitude, to the point of shedding your own blood for the growth of the Christian faith, for peace and harmony within God’s people, for the freedom and expansion of the Holy Roman Catholic Church”
I am not asking him to shed his blood. I cannot in good conscience do so, just as I cannot encourage Fariñas to maintain his hunger strike. However, I am asking the Cardinal to act on the orders given to him by the Holy Father, and to act with fortitude and join the voices of so many thousands of others to demand the liberation of all Cuban prisoners of conscience. I am calling on His Eminence to join so many Cuban Catholics who are working peacefully to end a regime that has brought neither peace nor harmony to God’s people. I hope that he can find in his heart and in his unquestionable faith in Christ, the strength to do it.
Havana’s archbishop, Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino, has made seemingly disparate moves and statements this past weekend. He met with the Ladies in White, stated that through his intercession with the Castro regime, they would be allowed to march without interference, and publicly asked the regime to respect them. However, Monsignor Ortega also called on Guillermo Fariñas to “be flexible” on his position, and to end his hunger strike. The Cardinal did not mention the causes for Fariñas’s hunger strike: the 26 prisoners of conscience that are on such precarious health that some of them are teetering on the verge of death. The Cardinal did not call on the Cuban government to answer Fariñas’ demands, and free these prisoners. The Cardinal did not ask the regime to free any other political prisoners.
As a Cuban Catholic, I am aware of the sometimes extreme difficulties to operate that the Church has faced and continues to face in Cuba. I can understand the difficult position in which the Church’s hierarchy, especially Monsignor Ortega, finds itself while trying to function within the tight control of the Stalinist dictatorship. I can also imagine the pressure from the Vatican hierarchy, some of whose members are not shy about their sympathies for the Castro regime. I welcome His Eminence’s recent statements on the state of crisis of Cuban society, on the urgent need for change, and his more recent ones about the Ladies in White and their plight.
I am also aware that many Cuban Catholics support the opposition, and that many of them, like the Ladies in White, Oswaldo Payá and Dania Virgen García, are part of that movement. Many Catholics risk their lives and whatever very little personal freedom they have daily to peacefully oppose and end a bloody and unjust regime that has sent many of us to prison, exile and death.
I call on His Eminence to listen to those Cuban Catholics, and to remember the words of the Holy Father said to him when he was elevated to the office he now occupies, on the Sixth Ordinary Consistory, November 26th, 1994:
“This red is a sign of the dignity of the office of Cardinal. It means that you must be ready to act with fortitude, to the point of shedding your own blood for the growth of the Christian faith, for peace and harmony within God’s people, for the freedom and expansion of the Holy Roman Catholic Church”
I am not asking him to shed his blood. I cannot in good conscience do so, just as I cannot encourage Fariñas to maintain his hunger strike. However, I am asking the Cardinal to act on the orders given to him by the Holy Father, and to act with fortitude and join the voices of so many thousands of others to demand the liberation of all Cuban prisoners of conscience. I am calling on His Eminence to join so many Cuban Catholics who are working peacefully to end a regime that has brought neither peace nor harmony to God’s people. I hope that he can find in his heart and in his unquestionable faith in Christ, the strength to do it.
The BBC reports that:
"The wives and mothers of political prisoners held in Cuba have been allowed to hold their weekly protest for the first time in three weeks.
Government supporters had blocked the women, known as Ladies in White, from marching for the past two Sundays.
The archbishop of Havana said he had intervened on behalf of the women.
Cardinal Jaime Ortega said the authorities had agreed to allow the marches during the month of May, after which they would review their decision."
More at the link.
The negotiation of Cardinal Ortega has succeeded in Havana, where Ladies in White walked today, but has not come to Holguin. Reyna Luisa Tamayo continues to face harassment from the regime, even to leave out of her house to go to church or the cemetery.
The website of the Ladies in White reports that proponents of the system prevented Reyna Luisa Tamayo Danger from assisting to mass today at the church of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre, in the municipality of Banes, home to the lady in white.
“They don’t let me go out, I cannot go to church, they don’t let me go to the cemetery to offer some flowers to my son,” said the mother of the deceased prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
“I do not bow down to anyone, I'm denouncing that my son was left to die, not given water, they [the Cuban government] beat him in jail,” she added.
Security agents of the State are leading the protest, which started from the early hours of Sunday.
To listen the audio report on Reyna’s voice (in Spanish) click here.
Threats to the family
Another son of Reyna Luisa, José Luis Ortiz Tamayo, and his wife were called the past Friday to a meeting to threaten them and to prohibit them to take their 11 year old daughter with them to Sunday’s mass, reported to Radio Martí the independent journalist Mildred Noemí Sánchez Infante.
In the meeting, in which had been present, among others, the director of the school to which the young girl goes, and the Captain Juan Carlos Escalona, Social Worker Prevention officer, Ortiz Tamayo defended the religious liberty of his daughter and assured that she will continue attending the religious worships. The little girl has been a victim of the mobs that organizes the state against the Tamayo family in front of their house, and on the way out of the church.
Here is the audio (in Spanish) with Sánchez Infante’s report.
The website of the Ladies in White reports that proponents of the system prevented Reyna Luisa Tamayo Danger from assisting to mass today at the church of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre, in the municipality of Banes, home to the lady in white.
“They don’t let me go out, I cannot go to church, they don’t let me go to the cemetery to offer some flowers to my son,” said the mother of the deceased prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
“I do not bow down to anyone, I'm denouncing that my son was left to die, not given water, they [the Cuban government] beat him in jail,” she added.
Security agents of the State are leading the protest, which started from the early hours of Sunday.
To listen the audio report on Reyna’s voice (in Spanish) click here.
Threats to the family
Another son of Reyna Luisa, José Luis Ortiz Tamayo, and his wife were called the past Friday to a meeting to threaten them and to prohibit them to take their 11 year old daughter with them to Sunday’s mass, reported to Radio Martí the independent journalist Mildred Noemí Sánchez Infante.
In the meeting, in which had been present, among others, the director of the school to which the young girl goes, and the Captain Juan Carlos Escalona, Social Worker Prevention officer, Ortiz Tamayo defended the religious liberty of his daughter and assured that she will continue attending the religious worships. The little girl has been a victim of the mobs that organizes the state against the Tamayo family in front of their house, and on the way out of the church.
Here is the audio (in Spanish) with Sánchez Infante’s report.
The Cuban Network Community Communicators invites members of Cuban civil society, for a day of support for the Ladies in White, on Sunday, May 9, Mother's Day in Cuba.
As in Havana can not go along with them to the church of Santa Rita, on the existing police harassment, you will hear Mass in any church in the community, throughout the country, asking the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in favor of political prisoners and family members who share with them this suffering.
To symbolize this support, people dressed in white, men and women, at least one piece of clothing.
We remind all respect for the Temple, which is the house of God and those who profess their faith, so it is important for appropriate behavior within this sacred place.
We also call on the brothers of the Cuban nation in exile, to participate this day in supporting these worthy women who desperately need our solidarity and prayers we make to God to achieve freedom for their imprisoned relatives .
It would be beneficial to anyone who receives this call, both outside and inside the country, make known to others through the means they have available:telephone, emails and even personally, as they communicated the Apostles.
Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello
Cuban Community Communicators Network
Taken from: Puntos de Vista Cuba.
As in Havana can not go along with them to the church of Santa Rita, on the existing police harassment, you will hear Mass in any church in the community, throughout the country, asking the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in favor of political prisoners and family members who share with them this suffering.
To symbolize this support, people dressed in white, men and women, at least one piece of clothing.
We remind all respect for the Temple, which is the house of God and those who profess their faith, so it is important for appropriate behavior within this sacred place.
We also call on the brothers of the Cuban nation in exile, to participate this day in supporting these worthy women who desperately need our solidarity and prayers we make to God to achieve freedom for their imprisoned relatives .
It would be beneficial to anyone who receives this call, both outside and inside the country, make known to others through the means they have available:telephone, emails and even personally, as they communicated the Apostles.
Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello
Cuban Community Communicators Network
Taken from: Puntos de Vista Cuba.
This is an act of solidarity with Cubans, especially with prisoners of consciousness and their families. On March 18th of 2003, 75 independent journalists, opposition activists and others who dared to stand up to the regime of Castro brothers were imprisoned because of their beliefs. All they wanted was freedom and respect of human rights.
We invite you to send your pictures with texts like: Libertad para Cuba, Libertad para los presos políticos (Freedom for Cuba, Freedom for political prisoners)...
Just write the text (doesn't have to be in Spanish) with big letters (so they are visible in the picture) and post them on Facebook or send to info@solidarity.com.pl . All pictures will be send to Cubans who will share our gesture of solidarity with their compatriots.
We invite you to send your pictures with texts like: Libertad para Cuba, Libertad para los presos políticos (Freedom for Cuba, Freedom for political prisoners)...
Just write the text (doesn't have to be in Spanish) with big letters (so they are visible in the picture) and post them on Facebook or send to info@solidarity.com.pl . All pictures will be send to Cubans who will share our gesture of solidarity with their compatriots.
Read more at Global Solidarity.
Urgent Plea
By Miguel Sigler Amaya (brother of political prisoner Ariel Sigler Amaya)
By Miguel Sigler Amaya (brother of political prisoner Ariel Sigler Amaya)
Miami, FL, Friday April 30th, 2010- The health of prisoner of conscience Ariel Sigler Amaya has worsen within the last [few] hours due to [problems with] his blood pressure. A fatal outcome is feared if Ariel is not urgently transferred to any hospital that is not inside Cuba to try to save his life since he has been suffering for almost two years from multiple illnesses, all of which were acquired in different hospitals while in prison. Cuban authorities have knowledge of this case, but for political reasons and as revenge against the Sigler Amaya family, don’t respond in any way.
The United States Department of State, according to Andrea Rodriguez in Washington DC, and who is personally in charge of Ariel’s case, has approved a Humanitarian Parole with a National Interest Waiver to enter the US. According to Andrea, this is a special permit issued by the USA once a year and only to more or less ten people. The visa is already at the US Section of Interests in Havana. The USDS has reached out three times to the Cuban chancellery [Ministry of Foreign Relations] and has received no answer. The next step will be to present the chancellery with an official written document requesting [Cuba’s official] authorization so that Ariel can travel to the US to attempt to save his life.
The United States Department of State, according to Andrea Rodriguez in Washington DC, and who is personally in charge of Ariel’s case, has approved a Humanitarian Parole with a National Interest Waiver to enter the US. According to Andrea, this is a special permit issued by the USA once a year and only to more or less ten people. The visa is already at the US Section of Interests in Havana. The USDS has reached out three times to the Cuban chancellery [Ministry of Foreign Relations] and has received no answer. The next step will be to present the chancellery with an official written document requesting [Cuba’s official] authorization so that Ariel can travel to the US to attempt to save his life.
Radio Martí broadcast today an interview with Ismely Iglesias Martínez, the independent doctor who tends to Guillermo Fariñas since the latter started his hunger strike more than two months ago.
The doctor told Radio Martí that Fariñas has a new infection that is causing him to have a high and constant fever upward of 40º C [104º F], and that he is not currently being fed intravenously. According to Iglesias, this last factor can cause him hypotension that can lead to a heart attack. The low blood pressure readings have been present since they [the medical personnel] discontinued the use of a catheter.
Ismely has called on the Cuban government to listen to Fariñas’s demands of freeing twenty six political prisoners who are also in precarious health.
The doctor told Radio Martí that Fariñas has a new infection that is causing him to have a high and constant fever upward of 40º C [104º F], and that he is not currently being fed intravenously. According to Iglesias, this last factor can cause him hypotension that can lead to a heart attack. The low blood pressure readings have been present since they [the medical personnel] discontinued the use of a catheter.
Ismely has called on the Cuban government to listen to Fariñas’s demands of freeing twenty six political prisoners who are also in precarious health.
Family and the Revolution: “It is alright that my mother is in prison.”
posted on Friday, April 30, 2010Authorities in Cuba arrested, and sentenced opposition journalist Dania García to a year and eight months behind bars on charges of domestic “mistreatment” and “abuse of power”, informed today (yesterday) Cuban dissident Elizardo Sánchez.
García, 41, who writes for several opposition press agencies online, was summarily sentenced on April 23rd at the end of a very speedy trail [after being arrested on April 22nd], stated Sánchez.
The dissident, who has taken part in recent marches with the Ladied in White —the wives of political prisoners— is now an inmate at the women’s high security prison Manto Negro [Black Shawl] west of Havana., added [Sánchez] the president of the illegal Cuban Commission on Human Rights, that functions with [some level] of tolerance from the government.
Sánchez remarked that he’s looking into “whether this is a politically motivated retaliation” and said that García’s daughter, 23, is acquiescent of her mother’s imprisonment.
“Her family has turned their backs on her. I spoke to her daughter and she said that it is alright that her mom is in prison to see if she changes her way of thinking. She’s supported by the CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution), the local chief of police, and other [government] institutions” he added.
García, who collaborates with opposition websites Primavera Digital and CubaNet, also maintains a blog on which she expresses her support for the Ladies in White, criticizes the human rights situation. Among her linked sites, there is one created by veterans of the Bay of Pigs anti-Castro invasion of 1961.
[The Cuban government in] Havana accuses opposition activists of being Washington’s mercenaries and of being used in a US and European orchestrated “campaign” to “discredit” the revolution after the February 23rd death of prisoner and opposition activist Orlando Zapata after an almost three month long hunger strike; and 65 (66) day long hunger strike by dissident journalist Guillermo Fariñas
(Source AFP-El Comercio, Quito, Ecuador translated by #OZT I accuse the Cuban government)
García, 41, who writes for several opposition press agencies online, was summarily sentenced on April 23rd at the end of a very speedy trail [after being arrested on April 22nd], stated Sánchez.
The dissident, who has taken part in recent marches with the Ladied in White —the wives of political prisoners— is now an inmate at the women’s high security prison Manto Negro [Black Shawl] west of Havana., added [Sánchez] the president of the illegal Cuban Commission on Human Rights, that functions with [some level] of tolerance from the government.
Sánchez remarked that he’s looking into “whether this is a politically motivated retaliation” and said that García’s daughter, 23, is acquiescent of her mother’s imprisonment.
“Her family has turned their backs on her. I spoke to her daughter and she said that it is alright that her mom is in prison to see if she changes her way of thinking. She’s supported by the CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution), the local chief of police, and other [government] institutions” he added.
García, who collaborates with opposition websites Primavera Digital and CubaNet, also maintains a blog on which she expresses her support for the Ladies in White, criticizes the human rights situation. Among her linked sites, there is one created by veterans of the Bay of Pigs anti-Castro invasion of 1961.
[The Cuban government in] Havana accuses opposition activists of being Washington’s mercenaries and of being used in a US and European orchestrated “campaign” to “discredit” the revolution after the February 23rd death of prisoner and opposition activist Orlando Zapata after an almost three month long hunger strike; and 65 (66) day long hunger strike by dissident journalist Guillermo Fariñas
(Source AFP-El Comercio, Quito, Ecuador translated by #OZT I accuse the Cuban government)
A must watch: the documentary Oscar's Cuba set to debut in Miami on May 12th
posted on Friday, April 30, 2010On May 12th, at the historic Tower Theater in Miami's iconic 8th Street (Calle Ocho), Miami Dade College will host a screening of the documentary Oscar's Cuba.
More information at the film's official website.
Watch the theatrical trailer below:
More information at the film's official website.
Watch the theatrical trailer below:
Guillermo Fariñas declined to abandon his 64 day long hunger strike. The Cuban dissident the Plea from the Nation that was sent to him yesterday stating that he must maintain “the pressure on the [Cuban] government.”
“We […] assume the responsibility of coming to you once more to urge you to end your hunger strike.” 88 dissidents told Fariñas in the document that was delivered to him in the Santa Clara hospital where he is interned since March 11th. It was also forwarded to the international press corps, according to Agence France Press (AFP).
“They ask me to head a project to request amnesty for the political prisoners, but I declined because it is an non-viable project” stated Fariñas from the hospital.
The 48 year old psychologist remarked that “at this moment, the international public opinion is centered on what’s happening in Cuba regarding human rights” and “it isn’t the time to lift the pressure from the government” but “to intensify it.”
“We […] assume the responsibility of coming to you once more to urge you to end your hunger strike.” 88 dissidents told Fariñas in the document that was delivered to him in the Santa Clara hospital where he is interned since March 11th. It was also forwarded to the international press corps, according to Agence France Press (AFP).
“They ask me to head a project to request amnesty for the political prisoners, but I declined because it is an non-viable project” stated Fariñas from the hospital.
The 48 year old psychologist remarked that “at this moment, the international public opinion is centered on what’s happening in Cuba regarding human rights” and “it isn’t the time to lift the pressure from the government” but “to intensify it.”
Havana, April 26th, 2010
To: Lic. Guillermo Fariñas Hernández
Calle Alemán No. 615-A e/ Hospital y Misionero
Santa Clara, Villa Clara.
Our brother and compatriot,
We, the signatories of this Plea from the Nation, assume the responsibility of coming to you once more to urge you to end your hunger strike.
This petition falls in line with so many other similar requests made by international organizations, religious institutions, personalities and governments with the conviction that life is our most precious asset to preserve.
Compatriot and brother, here is what is at stake: to sacrifice your life would deprive your entire family, especially your daughter, of the harmony and equilibrium provided by the love, guardianship and affective ties. It would also deprive us of a very valuable champion for the Cuban nation’s future life. Neither family nor nation can afford such loss.
The reaction of the [Cuban] government to all these dramatic events reveals the ever growing divorce between the moral bases that cemented the foundations of Cuba, and the attitudes of those who pretending to care for the people, mortgaged the future of our nation. A state reaction that mimics that of the street thug who caught in an immoral act, instead of responding suitably to this ethic dilemma, threatens the whole community with destruction.
This persistent obstinacy, this inherent malevolence, and that blissful ignorance that without even blushing the [Cuban] authorities continue to publicly proclaim, keep shocking the world and uniting all decent persons, regardless of their differences, around basic values that define modern coexistence. This is something for which we, in the midst of all our struggles, must thank the world. We thank you as well.
In the light of these current events, it is clear that the [Cuban] government’s cruelty is its most valuable resource to stay in power. And, as you know, and as [Father] Félix Varela taught us, cruelty is the clearest sign of a lack of any virtue to exercise power ethically. Faced with that, our strength begins by defending life.
The greatness of your gesture continues to inspire respect and admiration everywhere, in all cultures. It has made clear to all that the image portrayed by Security of State does not coincide with the nation’s real image. Cuba is closer to you than to its government.
The sad death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, condemned by all civilized peoples, the brutal repression against the Ladies in White –witnessed by the whole world– and your prolonged hunger strike, have increased the global awareness of the human rights situation in Cuba and created a new opportunity to also increase that awareness among as many other Cubans as possible. Your leadership on this most urgent endeavor can be of much greater value than any symbolism derived from your current actions. Your leadership can be combined with that altruistic ability to put other’s lives before yours. It is a symbolic ability that reveals, in its extreme determination, the odyssey of a country in desperation.
This new chance for Cuba has been perceived in all latitudes. The organizers of the [Orlando Zapata Tamayo] I Accuse [the Cuban Government] Campaign have suggested a new initiative that you should lead within the island: to collect 10,000 signatures to petition the National Assembly for the liberation of all political prisoners, and especially that of our 25 brothers in precarious health. These signatures would be joined to the more than 46,000 other ones from personalities and plain citizens from around the world – who have decided to accompany us in this difficult hour, and to the condemnation [of the Cuban regime] by parliaments and other international institutions.
We, who subscribe this Plea from the Nation, are already with you in this endeavor that should surely increase awareness within Cuba about the natural rights of all Cubans.
In fact, this is already happening. The cold reaction of the Cuban government to Zapata’s death and your hunger strike moved a Cuban citizen to exclaim: “Lord, who are these Castro [brothers]??” That question captures and summarizes a fate that we do not deserve, and its ethic implications are as deep as Orlando Zapata’s offering and your vital solidarity with those who need it most: the [political] prisoners.
Remember this, Nelson Mandela eminently said that a government is not judged by the way it treats its most prominent citizens, but by the way in which it treats those suffering the most: those in jail. And you, together with Orlando Zapata Tamayo and the Ladies in White, have touchingly shed light on the suffering of those marginalized by the regime. History has pronounced its judgment.
In the next phase of this new project so desperately needed by this nation, we need you. Your life is indispensable to us. It is that simple.
Walk with us.
Members of the Civil Society who sign this Plea from the Nation:
1. Leonardo Calvo Cárdenas – Political Activist, Member of Orlando Zapata Tamayo Committee (COTZ)
2. Juan del Pilar Goberna – Human Rights Activist COTZ-CCDHRN
3. Eleanor Calvo Martínez – Civic Activist CIR-COTZ
4. Juan Antonio Madrazo - Civic Activist CIR-COTZ
5. Víctor Manuel Domínguez – Cuban Writers’ Club
6. Jesús Díaz Núñez - Political activist - Arco Progresista Group
7. Jorge Olivera Castillo - Cuban Writers’ Club
8. Fernando Sánchez López - Democratic Solidarity Party –COTZ
9. Oscar Mario González – Independent Journalist
10. Carlos Jesús Menéndez - Human Rights Activist
11. Marcelo López Bañobre - Independent Journalist and Photojournalist
12. Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz - Human Rights Activist -CCDHRN
13. Bárbara Josefa Estrabao - CCDHRN-CA
14. Juan Juan Almeida García – Cuban Citizen
15. Lázara B. Sendiña Recalde - FLDBOZT
16. Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco - FLDBOZT
17. Francisco Leblanc Anafe – Director of the Independent Cuban Institute of Syndical Studies
18. Víctor M. Gonzélz Buduen - Civic Activist –CIR
19. Manuel Cuesta Morúa - Political Activist - Arco Progresista Group -COTZ
20. Carlos Serpa Maceira – Free Cuban Journalists Union
21. Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez - Hablemospress (independent news agency)
22. Magali Norvis Otero Suárez - Hablemospress (independent news agency)
23. Fidel Mojena Rivero – Partido 30 de Noviembre
24. Carlos Ríos Otero - Hablemospress (independent news agency)
25. Roberto Ávalos - Hablemospress (independent news agency)
26. Dulce María Díaz Quintana – Lady in White
27. Eriberto Liranza Romero - Independent Association of Educators
28. José Antonio Sánchez Santoyo - Alternative Republican Movement
29. Maritza Castro Martínez - Lady in White (Suporter)
30. Ivonne Malleza Galano - Lady in White (Suporter)
31. Luis Cino - Periodista Independiente- Primavera Newspaper
32. Amalia López Morera – Cuban Citizen
33. Julio César Jorrin Campos – Civic League Martiana
34. Sergio García Argentel - Partido Democrático 30 de Noviembre
35. Jeydi Coca Quesada - Lady in White (Suporter) Partido Dem. 30 de Noviembre
36. Moisés Leonardo Rodríguez Valdés - Corriente Martiana – United for a Free Cuba
37. Jaime Leygonier Fernández - Independent Journalist
38. Edel González Hernández - Cuban Citizen
39. Jorge Luis Quicutis Romero – Independent Librarian
40. Lisbán Hernández Sánchez - Independent Journalist
41. Liuba N. Kawooya Toca - Independent Democratic Cuba
42. José Antonio Martínez Márquez - Independent Democratic Cuba
43. Lucía Hernández Farah - Political activist - Arco Progresista Group
44. Carlos Romualdo Purniel Ramos - Independent Democratic Cuba
45. Ricardo Santiago Medina Salabarría - Priest
46. Vicente Rodríguez Hernández - Independent Democratic Cuba
47. Katia Sonia Martin Vélez - Independent Democratic Cuba
48. Lizbuz Marina Posada Licea – Cuban Citizen
49. Xiomara Sujo Fernández - Independent Association of Educators
50. Raúl Velásquez Valdés - Independent Association of Educators
51. Héctor Cruz Hernández - Independent Association of Educators
52. Ricardo L. González - Independent Association of Educators
53. Jimmy Jaime Jorge - Independent Association of Educators
54. Humberto José Bello Laffita - Independent Association of Educators
55. Lázaro Jaime Martínez - Independent Association of Educators
56. Roberto de Miranda Hernández - Independent Association of Educators
57. Soledad Rivas Verdecia - Independent Association of Educators
58. Yasea Pineda Alfonso - Independent Association of Educators
59. Ruviere González Mia - Independent Association of Educators
60. Rafael González Ruiz - Liberal Cuban Party
61. Walter Miguel Lahens Rodríguez - Independent Association of Educators
62. Lucas Garve – Independent Journalist
63. Fernando Palacio Mogar – Cuban National Liberal Party
64. Ronald Mendoza Méndez - Cuban National Liberal Party
65. Pedro A. Bello Méndez - Cuban National Liberal Party
66. Iván Valdés Rodríguez - Cuban National Liberal Party
67. Gerardo González Morales - Cuban National Liberal Party
68. Eroisis González Suárez - Cuban National Liberal Party
69. Esther González Pérez - UPCI
70. Roberto Díaz Morales - FUN
71. Juana Vázquez González – Cuban Citizen
72. Evaristo Pérez Rodríguez - FUN
73. Carlos Trujillo Goicochea - Cuban Citizen
74. Clara Mendoza Méndez - UPCI
75. Faustino Suárez de la Nuez - UPCI
76. Fernando Concepción Pérez - FUN
77. Caridad González Vázquez - FUN
78. Misleydys Rodríguez Páez - Cuban Citizen
79. Magdalena Rojas Espinosa - UPCI
80. Miguel Castellanos Sánchez - FUN
81. Sandro Tersidor González - FUN
82. Leonardo Padrón Comptiz - Political Activist - Arco Progresista Group
83. Javier Helbello - Political activist - Arco Progresista Group
84. Yusnaimy Jorge Soca – Civic Activist
85. Aida Valdés Santana – Human Rights Activist
86. Raúl Borges Álvarez - Christian Democratic Unity Party -COTZ
87. Mayra Sánchez - Political Activist - Arco Progresista Group
88. Rigoberto Rodríguez Capaz - Political Activist - Arco Progresista Group
Zapatero is urged to join the campaign for the release of all Cuban political prisoners from within his own party
posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010Meritxell Batet, Spanish Member of Congress for the Socialist Group, said today that the situation in Cuba “every day, every minute, every second, is worse.” She stated that the best way to achieve the release of all Cuban political prisoners will be through the united effort of all [Spanish]political parties.
Batet released this message during the debate of a motion on behalf of Cuban dissidents in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Spanish Congress.
The non-binding proposal, submitted by the Member of Congress for Union del Pueblo Navarro [Union of Navarrean People] (UPN), Carlos Salvador, requests that the President of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero join the international movement in defense of human rights in Cuba.
It also urges him to join the campaign “I accuse the Cuban government,” launched after the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo on 23 February after 85 days on hunger strike.
Havana, April 28th, 2010. The Ladies in White, a group of women that encompasses mothers, wives, aunts, and other relatives of political prisoners in Cuba, will not ask the government for a permit to conduct their peaceful marches until they are served with a legal document containing all restrictions imposed on them —said in Havana a leader of the group, Laura Pollán, in a statement to the Union of Free Journalists of Cuba.
“We will never ask for a permit until they ask us to do it legally through a document from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry Interior or the General Prosecutor’s office” —stated Pollán.
“The women of Cuba should know that all of them who would wish to support the Ladies in White have the door open to do so. That it is the government who represses because they want to destroy us” added the wife of imprisoned journalist Héctor Maceda Gutiérrez.
As part of the government imposed restrictions, the Ladies in White and their Support Group have been prevented from attending Sunday mass at Saint Rita of Cassia Catholic Church; and from peacefully marching on the centric Quinta Avenida (5th Avenue) in the Miramar neighborhood of the Playa municipality. For several consecutive weeks they have been the victims of “acts of repudiation” perpetrated by paramilitary mobs directed by Security of State.
Carlos Serpa Maceira, Union of Free Journalists of Cuba.
“We will never ask for a permit until they ask us to do it legally through a document from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry Interior or the General Prosecutor’s office” —stated Pollán.
“The women of Cuba should know that all of them who would wish to support the Ladies in White have the door open to do so. That it is the government who represses because they want to destroy us” added the wife of imprisoned journalist Héctor Maceda Gutiérrez.
As part of the government imposed restrictions, the Ladies in White and their Support Group have been prevented from attending Sunday mass at Saint Rita of Cassia Catholic Church; and from peacefully marching on the centric Quinta Avenida (5th Avenue) in the Miramar neighborhood of the Playa municipality. For several consecutive weeks they have been the victims of “acts of repudiation” perpetrated by paramilitary mobs directed by Security of State.
Carlos Serpa Maceira, Union of Free Journalists of Cuba.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo’s mother presents her formal accusation against the illegitimate regime of the Castro brothers for the violation of their rights
posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010- The letter, signed by Reina Luisa Tamayo Dánger, has been delivered to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
- Accompanying the letter is a dossier on the case.
April 28th, 2010. Reina Luisa Tamayo Dánger, mother of late Cuban opposition activist Orlando Zapata Tamayo — who died from a prolonged hunger strike in jail— has presented a formal accusation of the “illegitimate regime of Fidel Castro Ruz and Raúl Castro Ruz” before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The document is also accompanied by a detailed dossier on the case.
In the letter, Tamayo Dánger bases her accusation on the “legislated, systematic, programmed, formalized and executed violation of all basic and universally recognized rights and freedoms committed against my son Orlando Zapata Tamayo, and the rest of our family”
This is the second formal accusation against the castroite regime presented before the IACHR. A similar one from activist Guillermo Fariñas —who is on the second month of a hunger strike initiated to force the regime to free all political prisoners— was delivered to the Commission several weeks ago. His accusation was recently designated as “proceeding” by the Commission.
Contact information for Reina Luisa Tamayo Dánger:
Reina Luisa Tamayo Danger
Carretera Embarcadero #6,
Mariana Grajales, La Güira, Banes, Holguín, Cuba
Mobile phone: +53 52 39 51 69
Translation of the letter’s text:
Through this letter, I, Reina Luisa Tamayo Dánger, Cuban born, and in perfect command of all my mental faculties; present before this Commission my formal accusation against the illegitimate regime of Fidel Castro Ruz and Raúl Castro Ruz for the legislated, systematic, programmed, formalized and executed violation of all basic and universally recognized rights and freedoms committed against my son Orlando Zapata Tamayo, and the rest of our family.
The attached documentation shall be delivered to the Commission by Cuban born Alina Brouwer Guerra —individual recognized as a political refugee by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1993, who was granted political asylum in Spain in 1997, and who now resides in the US— and by Professor Ricardo Bofill Pagés, political refugee, residing n the US, and a founding member of the Cuban Pro-Human Rights Committee.
Reina Luisa Tamayo Dánger.
For further information, please contact:
Alina Brouwer Guerra,
Cuban Pro-Human Rights Committee
Tel: +1-305-469-9949
Cuba's Ladies in White are getting leaned on by Havana's thugs
For more than a month, Cuba's Ladies in White have been getting leaned on. Castro's goons have taken to surrounding them after the women go to Mass in Havana and march for their loved ones in prison. Now Dania Virgen García is in prison.
She didn't have a loved-one in a Cuban jail when she began processing through the streets of Havana with the Ladies in White on Sundays. But she decided to join them in solidarity against the unjust imprisonment of husbands, fathers and brothers rounded up during the Black Spring of March 2003 and handed harsh sentences for speaking their consciences.
She was one of a growing number of women there who call themselves "Ladies in Support."
On April 22 state security arrested the young blogger, and less than 48 hours later she received a prison sentence of one year and eight months. She has been sent to the country's largest maximum security prison for women, known commonly by Cubans as "the black veil." It's easy to guess why they call it that.
The regime's assaults on independent thinkers date back 51 years. But Ms. García's arrest is not without significance. It is the clearest sign to date of the regime's desperation in the face of popular discontent.
Ms. García is what Cubans call an independent journalist. Carmen Ferreiro, director of information and press for Human Rights Cuba based in Miami, says she met Ms. García online "toward the end of 2009" and helped her get her blog up and running. The two women exchanged emails.
"This is how in a short time I came to know that Dania was very devoted to her Catholic faith, that she spoke affectionately about her family, that she enjoyed photography and struggled despite limited resources for human rights in Cuba."
Ms. Ferreiro reports that Ms. García knew she was under surveillance and explained the threat in an email: "Things in Cuba are not well at all, but I am going to continue this struggle to the death or until whatever they want happens; I will continue to support the Ladies in White, even if they continue to beat us, because what they want is for us to be afraid and we are not going to allow that to happen."
Though without Dania now, the Ladies in White surely will be walking in the face of an increasingly dangerous mob again this Sunday. The world might want to take notice.
For more than a month, Cuba's Ladies in White have been getting leaned on. Castro's goons have taken to surrounding them after the women go to Mass in Havana and march for their loved ones in prison. Now Dania Virgen García is in prison.
She didn't have a loved-one in a Cuban jail when she began processing through the streets of Havana with the Ladies in White on Sundays. But she decided to join them in solidarity against the unjust imprisonment of husbands, fathers and brothers rounded up during the Black Spring of March 2003 and handed harsh sentences for speaking their consciences.
She was one of a growing number of women there who call themselves "Ladies in Support."
On April 22 state security arrested the young blogger, and less than 48 hours later she received a prison sentence of one year and eight months. She has been sent to the country's largest maximum security prison for women, known commonly by Cubans as "the black veil." It's easy to guess why they call it that.
The regime's assaults on independent thinkers date back 51 years. But Ms. García's arrest is not without significance. It is the clearest sign to date of the regime's desperation in the face of popular discontent.
Ms. García is what Cubans call an independent journalist. Carmen Ferreiro, director of information and press for Human Rights Cuba based in Miami, says she met Ms. García online "toward the end of 2009" and helped her get her blog up and running. The two women exchanged emails.
"This is how in a short time I came to know that Dania was very devoted to her Catholic faith, that she spoke affectionately about her family, that she enjoyed photography and struggled despite limited resources for human rights in Cuba."
Ms. Ferreiro reports that Ms. García knew she was under surveillance and explained the threat in an email: "Things in Cuba are not well at all, but I am going to continue this struggle to the death or until whatever they want happens; I will continue to support the Ladies in White, even if they continue to beat us, because what they want is for us to be afraid and we are not going to allow that to happen."
Though without Dania now, the Ladies in White surely will be walking in the face of an increasingly dangerous mob again this Sunday. The world might want to take notice.
The Wall Street Journal's Editorial Board.
One million Cubans turn their back on the regime in its electoral farse
posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010The rebelliousness against the “joint vote” grows alongside the abstentions, the ballots left blank and the nullified votes.
April 27th, 2010 - Close to a million Cubans turned their back on the Castro regime in the mockery of municipal elections conducted this past Sunday in the Caribean island. According to the data offered by Cuban official media yesterday, 993.305 did not exercise their right to vote or vote against the government, nullifying or leaving their ballots blank.
According to non-verifiable and traditionally propagandistic statistics from the Cuban government, of the 8.205.994 voters who went to the polls (of an eligible 8.468.144), a 4.33% nullified their ballots while a 4.58% left their ballots blank. Add to these “rebellious” ballots the percentage of abstentions: 4.1%, a number that has grown for the first time in these reports.
Not participating in elections carries negative consequences for Cuban workers and students. The million people in Cuba who did not join the electoral farce or boycotted it by delivering blank ballots (an act of protest that challenges the so-called “joint vote” from the Castro regime, which promotes voting for all the candidates, who have been previously hand- picked by the government) or nullified ballots (as in the case of hunger striker Guillermo Fariñas, who wrote in his ballot: “Down with the Castro Tyranny”), is not alone. They would have to be added to the millions of Cubans living in exile who’s right to vote has been revoked by the Cuban regime.
...Guillermo Fariñas has been in a hunger strike for more than two months, and the Cuban dictatorship has not met his demands: 'that the Castro brothers’ regime free 26 political prisoners whose deplorable health may turn them in to “other Zapatas.”'
Ladies in White: seven hours under siege as repression against them intensifies
posted on Monday, April 26, 2010
Havana, April 26th, 2010. “The Union of Free Journalists of Cuba, confirms that the Ladies in White —mothers, wives, aunts and other relatives of the 75 Cuban political prisoners arrested, tried and imprisoned during Cuba’s Black Spring— were again the victims of the Cuban regime’s repression that for the third time forbade them to peacefully march, as they do every Sunday, after attending mass at Saint Rita’s Catholic Church.
Laura Pollán Toledo, Berta Soler Fernández, Julia Esther Núñez Pacheco, Asunción Carrillo, Loida Valdez, and Laura María Labrada Pollán, were intercepted by two uniformed agents of the National Revolutionary Police, and a Security of State agent when they were set to start their march on Quinta Avenida (5th Avenue) in the Miramar neighborhood of the Playa municipality.
‘The police told us that we could not continue walking since we had not asked for a permit’ — said Loida Valdez.
For more than seven hours, the women found themselves under siege in the Ghandi Park (Parque Ghandi) by an “act of repudiation” staged by 80 members of government hordes.
‘They pushed us, we were insulted with obscene words. They brought a hoe, a pot and a spoon which they clanked noisily in our ears’ — stated Valdez. Foreign press journalists covered the incident. This reporter was detained 200 meters from the place by Security of State agents, and escorted away under threat.
It was also confirmed that an undetermined number of Ladies in White, and Support Ladies (Damas de Apoyo) were detained and prevented from attending mass on Sunday.
Laura Pollán Toledo, Berta Soler Fernández, Julia Esther Núñez Pacheco, Asunción Carrillo, Loida Valdez, and Laura María Labrada Pollán were forced to board a bus by Security of State agents and the mob, and then transported to their headquarters in the Cayo Hueso neigborhood of Centro Habana municipality.
‘We want them to gives us the legal document where the restrictions imposed against us by the government are clearly stated. The Ladies in White will continue our struggle, and we do not exclude the possibility that our blood may be spilled on the streets. As long as there are political prisoners, there will be Ladies in White clamoring for their freedom. The government should have no doubts about this. We are motivated by freedom, and we are willing to pay any necessary price’ — stated Laura Pollán Toledo.”
Source: Reporting from Havana, Cuba, Cuban independent journalist Carlos Serpa Maceira.
Independent journalist and Ladies in White supporter arrested and summarily sentenced to prison in Cuba
posted on Sunday, April 25, 2010Several independent journalists report from Cuba that independent journalist and Dama de Apoyo (Ladies in White Supporter) Dania Virgen García was arrested on charges that are yet no clear on April 22nd or 23rd. She was then summarily sentenced to 1 year and 8 months behind bars, and has been sent to the notorious Manto Negro prison.
Here is more from Marc Masferrer.
Blog for Cuba.
And Human Rights in Cuba
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