The face of the Cuban dictatorship

Guillermo Fariñas

Cuban independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas last week was beaten by agents with State Security, as well as members of a Castroite parmilitary organization, according to a story by journalist Félix Reyes Gutiérrez, posted at CubaNet.

The beating left Fariñas — no stranger to the government's thugs — with a bad bruise on his face and contusions to his head.

About 4 p.m. March 2, Fariñas was leaving the Santa Clara home of Miriam Fernández Armas, the director of an independent cultural center, and her husband Oscar Madruga González, when the three were confronted by members of the Asociación de Combatientes de la Revolución Cubana (ACRC). After a brief discussion about politics, the paramilitaries began beating Fariñas and pushed Fernández and Madruga to the ground, according to Reyes' story.

Fariñas was then handcuffed and taken by officers with the National Revolutionary Police to a local police station. He was released about an hour later — apparently on orders from Havana, according to Reyes' story.

The paramilitaries had earlier laid siege at the homes of Fernández and Madruga, and those of other government opponents in Villa Clara, in order to prevent them from attending an alternative art show in Havana.