Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez
Catch. Threaten. Release.
That's how the Cuban secret police under Raúl Castro tries to blackmail into silence those Cubans that oppose his dictatorship.
On Saturday, that's how it happened to independent journalist and human rights activist Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez.
He and a colleague, Carlos Manuel Hernández Reyes, were leaving a meeting at the home of a dissident political activist, when they were grabbed off the street and thrown in a patrol car.
While riding to a local police station, Guerra's cell phone rang. Officers responded by punching Guerra and handcuffing him.
Guerra was released about 4 hours later, but not before the officers seized his Canon digital camera, his Sony audio recorder, his Motorola cell phone, his memory flash drive, his silver tripod, and his pen!
They also reminded him that he already was facing previous charges that could send him to prison for up to 8 months, and that he would be better off if he just quit his journalistic and other dissident activities.
That's not going to happen, said Guerra, who as a former political prisoner has to know the threats are not entirely empty.
Catch. Threaten. Release.
The bottom line, said Guerra, is that under Raúl nothing has changed.
"Once more it is proved that since Raúl Castro took the power ceded by his brother, the rights to the freedom of expression, assembly and association continue to be repressed, with no noticeable changes," he said.
That's how the Cuban secret police under Raúl Castro tries to blackmail into silence those Cubans that oppose his dictatorship.
On Saturday, that's how it happened to independent journalist and human rights activist Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez.
He and a colleague, Carlos Manuel Hernández Reyes, were leaving a meeting at the home of a dissident political activist, when they were grabbed off the street and thrown in a patrol car.
While riding to a local police station, Guerra's cell phone rang. Officers responded by punching Guerra and handcuffing him.
Guerra was released about 4 hours later, but not before the officers seized his Canon digital camera, his Sony audio recorder, his Motorola cell phone, his memory flash drive, his silver tripod, and his pen!
They also reminded him that he already was facing previous charges that could send him to prison for up to 8 months, and that he would be better off if he just quit his journalistic and other dissident activities.
That's not going to happen, said Guerra, who as a former political prisoner has to know the threats are not entirely empty.
Catch. Threaten. Release.
The bottom line, said Guerra, is that under Raúl nothing has changed.
"Once more it is proved that since Raúl Castro took the power ceded by his brother, the rights to the freedom of expression, assembly and association continue to be repressed, with no noticeable changes," he said.
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