Uncommon Sense

Free jailed Cuban dissident rap musician Angel Yunier 'El Critico' Remon Arzuaga

The Pedazos de la Isla blog is using the premiere of a new video series to highlight the case of Cuban political prisoner Angel Yunier Remon Arzuaga:

Pedazos de la Isla also has the latest on how El Critico is doing in prison, as reported by leading dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, head of the Patriotic Union of Cuba:

Ferrer emphasized the situation of dissident rapper Angel Yunier Remon Arzuaga, known as “El Critico”, who is also the secretary of UNPACU for the city of Bayamo. The musician has been behind bars for more than 2 months in the Bayamo prison known as Las Mangas, still without a trial. He was violently arrested after the political police raided his home in March, attacking him and other relatives with tear gas.

“I was able to briefly speak with Angel Yunier on May 20th. In Las Mangas prison there is a very critical situation“, said the dissident leader, “Angel told me about the horrible medical attention offered to sick prisoners. He also told me that numerous prisoners have so many problems and they turn to self-infliction to call attention on so many abuses, the severe hunger, the lack of medical care and other cruel treatments“.

The young dissident continues to be in a judicial limbo while the authorities have not given his family any details as to what his fate will be.

Religious freedom is still a myth in Cuba

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday released its annual assessment of religous freedom in Cuba.

Like other forms of liberty, the freedom to worship as they wish free of harassment, hostility and other repression, is a rarity on the island.

From the executive summary:

The constitution protects religious freedom, although in practice government policies and practice restricted religious freedom. The trend in the government’s respect for religious freedom did not change significantly during the year. While there were some advances in the ability of members of established churches to meet and worship, significant restrictions remained. The Cuban Communist Party, through its Office of Religious Affairs, continued to control most aspects of religious life. However, most religious groups reported increased ability to cultivate new members, hold religious activities, and conduct charitable and community service projects, while reporting fewer restrictions on religious expression, importation of religious materials, and travel. The government invited Pope Benedict XVI to visit and assisted in organizing papal masses in public squares in the center of the country’s two largest cities. The government’s repression of peaceful human rights activists, however, included preventing some of them from attending religious services. This trend was particularly marked during the Pope’s March visit, when the Cuban Council of Human Rights (CCDHRN) registered more than one thousand short term detentions.

Read the whole thing here.

For an example of how the Castro dictatorship targets many forms of religious expression, read this.

Nothing scares the Castro regime like Cuban Independence Day

Monday, May 20, ought to be a great day in Cuba, the 111th anniversary of the nation's independence from the United States. Intead, it's just another day for the Castro dictatorship to target its opposition for repression.

That was made clear this past Monday, May 13, when police in the town of Banes, in Holguin province, rounded up three activists with the Popular Christian Democratic Movement (MDPC) -- Daniel Mesa Castillo, Arnaldo Espósito Zaldívar and Reinaldo Rivera Hanswih. Officers raided their homes and took them to a local police station where they were held for more than eight hours, according to a report from Hablemos Press.

"The detained activists were subjected to separate interrogations, and threatened with because of their activism, and warned not to undertake any activity on May 20, which commemorates the anniversary of the birth of the Republic of Cuba," said Frank Martínez Ochoa, spokesman for the MDPC.

Before they were release, police gave the activists formal warnings, which they refused to sign.

Independence Day makes the Castro regime nervous because it represents the liberty that the Castro regime, and the dictatorships before it, have worked so hard to stamp out for decades. The only answer it has for those seeking freedom for Cuba, is only more repression, if only to ensure its continued and sorry survival.

Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas arrives in Miami, denounces Castro's reforms as 'cosmetic'

Guillermo Farinas arrives Sunday in Miami.

Perhaps Raul Castro's most highly touted "reform" has been the lifting of limits on the ability of most -- but not all -- Cubans to travel overseas.

However, the independent journalist and activist Guillermo Farinas, the latest prominent dissident to take advantage of this change, is not convinced. He used his arrival at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon to dismiss the notion that the Castro dictatorship is instituting anything new.

The changes are "cosmetic," said Farinas, a veteran of numerous hunger strikes against the regime. "The repression is very strong."

Eventually, Farinas' travels will take him to Europe, where he will finally be able to receive the Sahkarov human rights prize he was awarded in 2010 but has been unable to accept because of the Castro regime's prior limits on his ability to go overseas.

Farinas is one of the giants of the Cuban opposition, repeatedly laying his life on the line on behalf of his fellow activists.

In 2010, Farinas marked the death of prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo after a lengthy hunger strike by starting his own hunger strike to demand the release of seriously ill political prisoners. His protest almost killed him.

Hunger strikes against the Castro regime are usually futile, but Farinas' protest, along with Zapata's death, were key in the regime's decision that summer to release dozens of the island's most prominent political prisoners.

When it comes to the lifting of the ability of Cubans to travel overseas, Farinas may be wrong, the change is much more than cosmetic. Because it has allowed Farinas and other prominent dissidents -- from Yoani Sanchez to Antonio Rodiles to Rosa Maya Paya and many others -- a new platform and new audiences for their anti-Castro messages. Each has raised their stature, and that of the entire opposition.

The dictatorship probably didn't count on that, but it wouldn't be the first time that Farinas and the others have proven it wrong.

From exile, 2 Ladies In White extend 'helping hands' to Cubans in Cuba

They are now living in exile in Kentucky, but  two Cuban Damas De Blanco ("Ladies In White") have not forgotten the people of Cuba, especially those in Holguin province in the eastern part of the country. (Generally speaking, that's the part of Cuba my father's family is from.)

Martha Diaz Rondon and Caridad Caballero Batista, two Cuban patriots forced to leave the island because of their opposition to the Castro dictatorship, are the forces behind Manos Solidarias ("Helping Hands.")

From their website:

The Lady in White, Martha Diaz Rondon founded “Manos Solidarias” in 2009. With very limited resources she saved money to bring gifts to children, disabled, elderly and rural households in Holguin, Cuba. After, the Ladies in White Laura María Labrada Pollan (Havana), Caridad Caballero Batista (Holguin), Gertrudis Ojeda Suarez (Banes) were integrated into this humanitarian work. Martha Diaz Rondon and Caridad Caballero Batista now live in Kentucky, USA and will continue their work in exile with our help.

Learns about how these Cubans are helping Cubans, and what you can do to assist their efforts.

Teenage Cuban dissident calls on youth worldwide to support fight for freedom

Enrique Lozada

As he recovers from a lengthy hunger strike that helped force the Castro regime to release his father from jail, Enrique Lozada, 17, has a message for Cuba and the world.

Via Pedazos de la Isla:

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Transcription and English translation, here:

“I am seventeen years old.  I want to call on the youth of the world, not just the ones in my country.  I want to convoke them so that they manifest themselves against the injustices that daily attempt against family harmony.  I want to call on them to take a stand against all injustices that constantly go against our families, because we must fight against violence, against all things that violate our dignity and our morals.

I want to tell the Cuban authorities and the Cuban dictatorship that neither the beatings nor the imprisonments will stop us from demanding our rights.  We are going to keep demanding freedom, we are going to keep speaking up for a Cuba where there is democracy, and we are even willing to give our lives for our country, for the land where we were born, for our sky, we are willing to do it.

To the civilized world, where there is democracy and freedom, I say that Cuba will soon be free, and soon, in Cuba there will be social justice.  Cuba will soon be democratic.”

Pope Francis to leader of Cuban Ladies In White: 'Continue onward'

Read about Wednesday's brief but historic meeting between Pope Francis and Berta Soler, the leader of the Cuban Damas De Blanco, here and here.

And for some perspective about how important the above photo is, read Carlos Eire's post at Babalu:

It would be great to have an audio recording of the words exchanged.  But...well....  at least we know that they speak the same language, and that Berta knows how to deliver a message.  As Cubans would say: "ella no tiene pelos en la lengua." (She has no hairs on her tongue - she can be brutally frank.)

This was not a private audience.  Every wednesday morning the pope celebrates mass, delivers a brief talk to a large invited audience, blesses them, and then mingles with the crowd.  Getting a spot in the front row is difficult and takes some clout.

Berta was well placed, and had a chance to catch the pope's eye.  And he may have been alerted to her presence.

It may seem like an insignificant encounter to some, but this is a big deal, and the rulers of the Castro Kingdom will gnash their teeth when they see this photo.  The Cuban flag draped between the two figures in white will be a great irritant to the tyrants, because they refuse to accept the fact that Cuba belongs to all Cubans, not just to their slave-drivers and those slaves who agree to submit to the lash. .

So, even though this was a brief encounter, it delivers a potent message.

Pope Francis linked up with Berta in the midst of a large crowd.  Sad to say, but Benedict XVI would have probably avoided the Lady in White.

Former Cuban political prisoner Luis E. Lozada: I was beaten tortured while in jail

The Cuban opposition scored a big win this week when the Castro regime released activist Luis Enrique Lozada just shy of a month after he was unjustly arrested. Following Lozada's example, other activists had used hunger strikes and other protests to demand the dictatorship release their compatriot.

Now come the horror stories -- stories of beatings and other tortures Lozada was forced to endure while in jail.

A photo of one of Lozada's injuries, via Martinoticias.

Martinoticias has the report.

Cuba releases political prisoner Luis E. Lozada; activists end hunger strikes

From Cuba, activist Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia reports on the release of political prisoner Luis Enrique Lozada, who had been on hunger strike since soon after his arrest on April 9.

Hunger strikes are not the way to fight the Castro dictatorship. But there is no denying that Lozada's release is a big victory for the peaceful opposition in Cuba.

Read more here.

An open letter from Elsa Morejon to Amnesty International

Via Translating Cuba

Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and his wife Elsa Morejon, 11 April 2011.

I am Elsa Morejon Hernandez, wife of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet González, president of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba. My letter is intended to report to you and to the world the injustices that to my husband and a group of Cuban ex-prisoners called the Group of 75 are being subjected to.

Two years ago, the prisoners of Cuba’s 2003 Black Spring of Cuba, were removed from prison by the Cuban government and placed on so-called parole. My husband is among the prisoners who chose not to accept exile and to stay in Cuba, the country he has vowed never to abandon. For this reason he has been deprived of his civil and political rights.

On several occasions, the Cuban government has denied him permission to visit relatives in the U.S., people working in human rights in Europe, as well as the Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, who has invited him on several occasions to travel to that country.

The so-called parole means that, although he is at home, he has to continue to fulfill the unjust punishment of 25 years in prison with a high risk of being returned to prison for refusing to leave the country for good.

Although currently the reasons that these prisoners of the Cause of the 75 do not exist, the Cuban government has refused to legally release them. Instead they use this unjust legal concept as psychological pressure and personal threat.

Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet is a peaceful man, a lover of God and a defender of life. He is an ardent promoter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. My husband does not pose any threat to his fellow citizens, his citizens projects are open, democratic and for well-being of the people of Cuba.

Both my husband and I are Christians who feel immense love for family and community. However, the political police in Cuba spy on our privacy from outside my house, both electronically and with law enforcement personnel.

Recently my husband was subjected to personal surveillance and persecution by the political police on motorcycles through the streets of the community where we live, for no apparent reason, with the intention to intimidate him. According to my husband, one of these policemen threatened to return him to the cells in which he was crowded for more than 12 years.

The summary political trials where the prisoners of the Cause of the 75 were sentenced are examples of dark Cuban judicial system. I still remember the words of a defense counsel of one of them: “Justice is not politics.”

The physical and psychological integrity of my husband is the responsibility of the government of Cuba. They are responsible for anything that might happen to him.

Therefore: I want to thank, in advance, Amnesty International and all Human Rights NGOs in the free and democratic world and dignified people for demanding that the Cuba regime grant total and unconditional freedom to all political prisoners of conscience, including total freedom for Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and all prisoners of the Cause of the 75.

The time is now to show solidarity with Cuban hunger strikers (UPDATED)

UPDATED, May 8, 2013 -- Political prisoner Luis Enrique Lozada is released; he and other activists end hunger strikes.

Luis Enrique Lozada and his family.

Hunger strikes, and other forms of suicide by protest, are never welcome, moreso when the target of the protest is an amoral, callous, hateful institution like the Castro dictatorship. It not only doesn't matter to the regime if the protesters die, it would be preferable if not for the risk that the world would somehow hold it accountable, if only temporarily, for the deaths.

Hunger strikes are also tragic because the men and women and children with the courage and sense of sacrifice to start such a protest, are exactly the people Cuba, and the struggle for freedom on the island, needs to live.

But regardless of what you think of hunger strikes as a tactic in that struggle, all who support the cause of freedom for Cuba have the responsiblity to demonstrate solidarity and support for those who because they have nothing else to fight with, choose to lay their lives on the line to reveal the reality of Cuba today and to demand justice for their fellow citizens.

That exactly is what currently is happening in various spots in eastern Cuba, where dozens of activists are using hunger strikes and other protests to demand the release of their imprisoned fellow freedom fighter, Luis Enrique Lozada.

Lozada, an activist with the Patriotic Union of Cuba, was unjustly arrested on April 9, and soon after started a hunger strike to demand his release. In solidarity, other activists -- including his wife, son and other members of his family -- started their own hunger strikes.

Lozada currently is in intensive care at a Cuban hospital, and his son, who is only 17, is reportedly also critically ill.

On Tuesday, there were reports that security forces had expelled six activists from a hospital where they were receiving treatment because of the ill effects of their protests.

There is nothing we can do about the indifference and disdain the Castro regime has for the Cuban people, especially those who are very public in their opposition. Simply put, the dictatorship and its agents are slowly murdering the protesters.

But we can act to demonstrate not only solidarity with the protesters, but a commitment to holding the dictatorship accountable for its inaction, and worse. We don't have to like or support hunger strikes as a protest tactic, but we must act on the protesters' behalf so that they -- and those who would prefer them dead -- know that they are not forgotten.

And who knows, perhaps because of our actions of support -- whether it be by sharing or tweeting or Facebooking this post; by fasting for a few hours or a whole day; by signing an online petition; or by silent prayer -- we can force the Castro regime meet the hunger strikers' demand. In rare instances, it has worked.

But you have to do it now, before it is too late.

Their protests are their own, but do not confuse a condemenation of hunger strikes against the Castro regime, and other forms of suicide, as an indictment of the protesters. For they deserve, and have earned, much more than that.

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One way to show your solidarity with the protesters is by reading and signing this online petition asking international human rights groups to join in the campaign to demand Luis Enrique Lozada's release from prison.

For the latest developments in Cuba, good sources of information include:

The blog Pedazos de la Isla.

The Facebook page for the Patriotic Union of Cuba.

This Facebook group.

And the Twitter feed for Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, the head of the Cuban Patriotic Union and one of the hunger strikers demanding Lozada's release.

Worries rise for Cuban activists on mass hunger strike

Via Pedazos de la Isla:

Dissident leader Jose Daniel Ferrer weakened during 19th day of hunger strike

Youngest hunger striker, Enrique Lozada (17) during hunger strike.

More activists keep joining the massive hunger strike encompassing more than 60 people throughout Eastern Cuba, demanding the release of detained dissident Luis Enrique Lozada Igarza, while the other strikers who have already been refusing to eat for more than 3 weeks maintain their protest, which has led to the deterioration of their health.  The Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) has been publishing a series of videos and audios in their  YouTube channel with updates on the situation.In this video (above), the youngest of the strikers, 17-year old Enrique Lozada, who is the son of Luis Enrique Lozada, defends his protest before various doctors sent by the government to try and make him give up on his demands in the Juan Bruno Zayas hospital of Santiago de Cuba.

“With the level of stress I have  right now, knowing that my mother is also on hunger strike, as well as my uncle, seeing as how my family is being torn apart, do you really think I feel like living?”, the young Cuban tells the team of doctors, “Why am I going to live knowing that my father is dying in a prison cell because of a crime he never committed?  Knowing that my family is falling to pieces”.

The video concludes with the protest of various hunger strikers that are present in that room.  They point out that the regime has ignored their demands and has not even acknowledged the situation of Luis Enrique Lozada and the other strikers.

Read the whole thing here.

In poor health, Cuban prisoner of conscience Marcos Lima released from jail

Antonio Michel Lima Cruz, left, and Marcos Maikel Lima Cruz

Cuban prisoner of conscience Marcos Maikel Lima Cruz, who has been hospitalized in Holguin since suffering a stroke on April 16, has been paroled because of his poor health.

Lima's father, Marcos Antonio Lima Dalmau, told Martinoticias that security officials informed the family that Lima Cruz, 35, had been granted an "extrapenal license" and that he would be released.

"Right away, they withrew the police presence that had been in the ward where he had been admitted," the elder Lima said.

Lima fell ill while exercising in a prison yard. Doctors said he had suffered a cerebral aneyusm brought on by a congeital condtion, and that he would need surgery.

At one point, Lima's condition was grave, but he has since stabilized.

Lima's parole finally interjects a bit of sanity into his case.

Along with his brother Antonio Michel, Marcos Antonio is an activist with the Patriotic Union of Cuba.

The pair were arrested Christmas Day 2010 as they marched through the streets of Holguin, complete with a Cuban flag, and chanted anti-government slogans while listening to the music of the Los Aldeanos, a popular hip-hop group.

In May 2011, they were tried and convicted on charges of "public disorder" and "insulting national symboks"

Marcos Maikel was sentenced to 3 years in prison, and Antonio Michel was sentenced to 2 years.

In March 2012, Amnesty International designated the Lima brothers as prisoners of conscience, jailed only because of their beliefs.

Antonio Lima was released in October 2012.

Cuban rights group reports 377 arrests in April

The Hablemos Press human rights and news group on Thursday released its monthly update on repression on the island:

-- There were 377 politically motive arrests in April, bringing the total for year to 1,544. In most instances, those arrested are released within a few hours or a few days, however long it takes for the regime to threaten those arrested with prison time if they continue with their anti-Castro activities. (The report includes details on each arrest.)

-- Eight of those arrested were transferred to Cuban prisons, facing charges of assault, resistance and other "crimes."

-- There are a total of 76 political prisoners n the Castro gulag, which seems rather high.

Freedom House: On press freedom, Cuba ranks in the Bottom 8

It is no surprise but always worth mentioning: When it comes to freedom of the press, there is none in Cuba. Nothing changed about that in 2012.

In fact, conditions for independent journalists like Calixto Ramon Martinez, only got worse.

In its latest report on press freedoms around the world, Freedom House reports that Cuba ranks in the Bottom 8, tied for 191st in the world with Iran. The only nations ranking lower are Belarus, Eritrea, Uzbekistan, North Korea and Turkmenistan -- the latter two which tie for the lowest ranking.

"In 2012, conditions worsened in Cuba ... due to an increase in the number of arbitrary detentions, sometimes violent, of independent journalists," the Freedom House report states.

"Press freedom remained extremely restricted in Cuba."