Uncommon Sense

Letter from Cuban political prisoner Antonio Díaz Sánchez

Antonio Díaz Sánchez

There is a miracle at work at the Canaleta prison in Ciego De Ávila, one of the hellholes in the Castro gulag:

One of the political prisoners there, the independent journalist Pablo Pacheco Ávila, has a blog, Voz tras las rejas ("Voice Through the Bars" is also published in English).

No, he doesn't have a computer and Internet connection in his cell. Instead, he dictates his dispatches by telephone to fellow blogger Claudia Cadelo, and from there it is posted and sometimes translated into English and Portuguese.

Yesterday, the translator e-mailed me to give me a heads-up about one of Pacheco's more recent postings, in which he quotes extensively from a letter he received from another political prisoner, Antonio Díaz Sánchez, who currently is being held in solitary, also at Canaleta.

Like I said, it's a miracle.

Here is Pacheco's posting in its entirety (note that in the sections in bold, Díaz asked that supporters write to him in prison. He even includes his address):

Between tedious days and thinking of his family, especially his oldest daughter Jenny who traveled to the US in April, Tony spends his days of captivity in a cell of the provincial prison of Canaleta in Ciego de Ávila. Today I received a letter from Antonio Díaz Sánchez (Tony), sent clandestinely from the isolation zone of the prison.

In it he states that the visit went well. "Those present included my wife, my youngest daughter, my sister, and her husband.  In other words, the same people as usual. When I asked to go up to the pavilion, as is the custom for prisoners from Havana, the officer on guard left and, upon returning, stated that Reineiro told him that today was not my turn. Then I told him that he was right; the time had already passed. In reality, I wanted to appeal to the conscience of this soldier, Lieutenant Colonel Reineiro of Canaleta. Otherwise my wife would have to come back within eight days so we could be together for three hours of conjugal visit. 

“I knew what the answer would be but I wanted to force the guard to answer me as did Pablo Manuel by saying ‘I am very bad’ so I could then send him to hell, and that is exactly what I did. When the officer on guard and in charge of penal control returned, he told me that Reineiro had denied my request, that the visit would have to be on the 20^th of the following month. I told him in a friendly tone: ‘That is not a problem. He is chief and even in the dumpster on 100^th street there is a chief, and the chief is chief even if it’s in a dumpster.’

“This has become my slogan in the face of the intimidation that is supposed to coerce me. I must clarify that the guard doesn't do any of this on his own initiative, denying me the cigars brought by Julita, the right to religious meetings, etc. etc.  This is all thought up by the G-2, or perhaps they gave him a blank check that permits him to act as he wishes from now o

“Early that same Wednesday I was visited in my cell by a uniformed major. This man claimed to be a security official from the prison.  He reminded me that he was the one who brought me the medicine sent by Pablito during my first days here. The conversation was interrupted by the inspection. I don’t know if he came just before the inspection to entertain me or if he really wanted to make conversation with me, but he promised to continue the dialogue, though I doubt he will return, because my wife brought a series of writings and photocopies which were collected for inspection.” I should point out that Pedro Arguelles says the photocopies were returned to Antonio Díaz Sánchez’ family.

 

In another part of the missive Tony comments: “I hope that you all understand my strategy. They try to distract me by tightening the screw, but I pretend like nothing is happening, and while their methods keep failing and they keep making it more difficult, I make it more difficult, too. I only ask God to grant me strength and health in order to continue resisting.” In the same way, Tony reasons in his own words: “Meanwhile the solidarity is increasing and I notice that they, with all their actions, play the role of victimizers, while every moment with my peaceful resistance, I am the victim. This has not been my intention but instead has been the result of prison procedures. For example, in these past two months I have written six letters to my family, and none arrived. Also, it would be a very good idea if people inside and outside Cuba write to me. The address is Provincial Prison Canaleta, Carretera de Sanguily, kilometer 2 ½, isolation zone, hall 1, cell n.1, Antonio Díaz Sánchez, Ciego de Ávila. I should receive these letters so the dirty tricks used in this prison could be more publicly uncovered, shedding light on the darkness where they operate.” 

 

Tony ends his correspondence suggesting: “I also think that people could write to Reineiro Díaz Betancourt at the same address demanding that he allow me the right to religious assistance and being able to go out in the sun without shackles. Please, these things may seem insignificant, but they have a tremendous effect.

“Hugs for Felix, Alonso, Pedro and Pablito, and also my respect and love to all those people of goodwill who show solidarity with me.”

You can also read the post in the original Spanish and in Portuguese.

Show your support for a Cuban human rights hero

Dr. Darsi Ferrer

Dec. 10, one month from today, is International Human Rights Day, which commemorates those fundamental freedoms that unite — or should unite — people around the world. Respect for those human rights is not equally enforced around the world, and while they are repressed at any time, anywhere, we are all less free.

In Cuba, one of the most forceful, most effective spokesmen, for human rights, and how that respect from the Castro regime is absent on the island, has been Dr. Darsi Ferrer.

Ferrer has exposed how the reality of Cuban health care falls far short of the myth, and he has organized marches to demand that the human rights of all Cubans are protected and respected. He has been assaulted by the dictatorship's goons, only to return to the streets again the next year.

This year, however, Ferrer may not be able participate.

Since July 21, he has been in prison. No formal charges have been filed, but apparently he has been accused to buying a couple bags of cement on the Cuban black market to make some repairs to the home he shares with his wife and young son.

No one who knows Ferrer, and knows the Castro dictatorship, believes that.

Ferrer, and his ideals, and his willingness to act on those ideals, make him very dangerous to the regime. After years of trying less severe methods to silence him, a frustrated dictatorship dropped the hammer it holds over all Cubans, and threw him in jail.

If Ferrer is still imprisoned on Dec. 10, he needs you to pick up his banner.

An easy, but powerful way to do that is by participating in a blogburst, in which supporters will use the Internet — whether it's a blog, a Twitter feed, a Facebook status, a comment on a blog — to demand two things:

Human rights for Cuba.

And the release of Darsi Ferrer NOW!

As Ferrer has demonstrated, the slogans can be that simple.

And if we unite to express that message, it can be that powerful.

For more about the planned blogburst, go here.

Nelson Vázquez Lima, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 11/8/09

This post will remain at the top of the page through Friday, events allowing. To read newer posts, scroll down.

Nelson Vázquez Lima in 1991 was convicted of "attack, disrespect and rebellion in penitentiary establishments," and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

I don't know what he allegedly did, but since being thrown into the Castro gulag he has been an active member of the opposition, protesting human rights abuses with hunger strikes and other demonstration and bearing witness to what he knows about the cruelty of the regime.

Cuban prisons are full of freedom fighters like Vázquez. They may not have been imprisoned for political reasons, but once in jail, they fully understand what the dictatorship is doing to them and their fellow prisoners, and they have exhibit the courage to act.

Most recently, Vázquez, an inmate at a prison in Guántanamo, on Oct. 10 started a hunger strike to demand he be transferred to a prison closer to his home in Cienfuegos. He was transferred to Guántanamo in July 2008 after he requested permission to visit his mother, who was ill.

The regime responded by transferring Vázquez to a prison farther away from his home.

No longer willing to put up with the abuse, Vázquez started a hunger strike.

Antúnez demands world help save his wife's life

Antúnez and Iris

Cuban human rights activist Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez" has a simple request of the world — Please help save his wife's life.

Iris Tamara Pérez Aguilera, the leader of the Rosa Parks Women's Movement, on Oct. 29 started a hunger strike to protest the refusal by authorities to let her visit with her imprisoned brother, and according to Antúnez, her health already has begun to deteriorate. Still, Iris has vowed to continue with her protest until the authorities life the "absurd prohibition policy" blocking her from seeing her brother, according to a statement released to Cuban Democratic Directorate.

Mario Alberto Pérez Aguilera, imprisoned since 2006, has been on a hunger strike since Sept. 5 to protest the abusive treatment he has received while in jail. After two months, he reportedly is near death.

Antúnez called on the international community to intercede with the Castro dictatorship on behalf of his wife and brother-in-law.

Antúnez, who in April 2007 was released after more than 17 years as a political prisoner, knows whom to blame for what is happening to his family.

"I am blaming the Havana government," said Antúnez, which is criminal, insensitive, a torturer and responsible for the consequences of these hunger strikes for Mario and Iris."

Political prisoner Darsi Ferrer ends hunger strike

At the behest of supporters in Cuba and overseas, Cuban political prisoner Dr. Darsi Ferrer has suspended a hunger strike he started Oct. 13 to protest his unjust imprisonment, his wife wrote in an e-mail received this morning.

Yusnaimy Jorge Soca said she was able to visit her husband on Oct. 29, but he was barely able to communicate with her because of the effects of his protest — he was dizzy, his blood pressure was low and he appeared as little more than a cadaver. Guards at Valle Grande prison had also increased the pressure on Ferrer, threatening to send him to a punishment cell and cut off his water if he continued with the hunger strike.

The next day, a Brazilian group — which I believe is responsible for this petition — implored Ferrer to end his hunger strike.

"In response to this request and other friends who fear for his life, which is very important and necessary in this struggle for freedom of the people of Cuba, yesterday October 30, 2009, Dr. Darsi Ferrer suspended his hunger strike," Jorge wrote.

You can read Jorge's letter, in Spanish, below the fold. (If anyone wants to translate the full letter, either e-mail it to me or post it as a comment)

Cuban health care no good for political prisoners

                              Hernandez               Pulido                  Sigler              Izquierdo

The Castro gulag takes a terrible toll on its captives, especially those imprisoned because of their political opposition to the regime. Overcrowding, putrid food and undrinkable water have combined to make many political prisoners sick. Throw in the dictatorship's malignant neglect, and it is not an overstatement to conclude that it has condemned these men to serve virtual death sentences.

That neglect comes in the form of a lack of anything resembling adequate medical care, with prison officials doing only the bare minimum needed to spare the dictatorship the embarrassment of having a political prisoner die while still in jail.

This weekend, PayoLibre.com has published updates on how four political prisoners are suffering because of their captivity:

• Iván Hernández Carrillo is suffering from dizziness and other symptoms brought on by a hunger strike he started Oct. 26, after guards seized a book that his visiting wife had brought for him.
• Alfredo Pulido Lopez, who already suffers from gastritis, tachycardia and other chronic conditions, has developed respiratory problems his wife fears could lead to the flu.
• Ariel Sigler Amaya, who earlier this year was near death, has not been seen by a doctor since Oct. 25. The prison hospital where he is being held doesn't have the medication he needs for digestive inflammation, and he can't receive needed occupational therapy because the elevator is broken.
• José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández is suffering from stomach ulcers.

All four prisoners have been in jail since the "black spring" of 2003. To read about them, and the 50 other members of the "Group of 75" still in prison, go here.

Cuban political prisoner Dr. Darsi Ferrer is in 'legal limbo'

Dr. Darsi Ferrer and Yusnaimy Jorge Soca

Dr. Darsi Ferrer is one of the giants of Cuban dissidence.

As a physician, he runs a health a clinic independent of the Castro health care "miracle."

As a journalist, he reports on the injustices of the Cuban communist system. He also has done the same as a documentary filmmaker.

But his wife Yusnaimy Jorge Soca said the straw that the broke the camel's back, and why Ferrer has been in jail since July 21, was his plan in August to lead a peaceful protest march, dubbed "a walk of dreams," along the Malecon in Havana.

Since his arrest, Jorge said in an interview with independent journalist Doralis Álvarez Soto, Ferrer has fallen into a "legal limbo." The authorities have not taken their supposed "case" against Ferrer — reportedly, he faces charges of assault and buying construction materials on the black market — to court, and his attorney has not provided much of a defense. He is being left to rot in the Valle Grande prison, housed with murderers and rapists, according to Jorge.

In protest of what is happening to him, Ferrer on Oct. 13 started a hunger strike.

"He promises he will not end his protest, even if it costs him his life," Jorge said. "He can no longer tolerate these inequities."

Whatever happens to Darsi Ferrer while he is in jail, will be the responsibility of the Castro dictatorship.

So it is incumbent on supporters of Dr. Ferrer and his work, and of Cuban liberty, to spread the word about this brave man's struggle.

One easy way to do this, is to sign this petition, and then encourage others to do the same.

Read the whole interview with Jorge, in Spanish, here.

And read my 2006 interview with Dr. Ferrer, here.

Sign petition to support Cuban political prisoner

Dr. Darsi Ferrer

If it was as easy as starting an online petition and gathering a few signatures in order to win the release of each and every Cuban political prisoner, I would dedicate whatever I could to make it happen.

Unfortunately, it is not so easy, because of the time it would take, and because the Castro dictatorship, a brutal regime operating one of the largest, most cruel gulags on the planet, is not so easily swayed.

Still, such petitions, in print and especially online, have their important purpose because: A) They remind the prisoner that they are not forgotten, that their continued resistance to tyranny is being witnessed and supported by supporters around the world.

And B) They remind the prisoner's captor of exactly the same.

A petition may not convince the Cuban government to release a political prisoner, but it should remind officials that they are being held accountable in the court of political opinion.

The petition may only be a symbol, but the more signatures attached, the more powerful a symbol it is.

So with those caveats, I would encourage you to view and add your name to this petition in support of Cuban political prisoner Dr. Darsi Ferrer, who has been imprisoned since July 21 on trumped-up charges of assault and receiving stolen construction materials.

Show Darsi, and his captors, that he is not forgotten.

And who knows, maybe there is a magic number that will convince the dictatorship that it has no other choice but to release Ferrer.

If there is, I know what I will be doing with my spare time.

Cuban activist starts hunger strike to support imprisoned brother

Iris Tamara Pérez Aguilera

Cuban human rights activist Iris Tamara Pérez Aguilera on Thursday started a hunger strike to show her solidarity with her brother, the political prisoner Mario Alberto Pérez Aguilera, according to a report today from independent journalist Aini Martín Valero.

Mario, who in 2006 was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a supposed "common" crime, has been on his own hunger strike since Sept. 5 to protest his treatment by his captors. Reports are that he is gravely ill because of his protest, but the authorities have refused to provide his family any information about his condition or whereabouts. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which is part of the Organization of American States, earlier this month intervened with the Cuban government on behalf of Mario.

Iris is one of the leading lights of the Cuban human rights movement. She heads the Rosa Parks Women's Movement, and earlier this year the National Endowment for Democracy honored Iris and her husband, the former political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez," as co-recipients of its Democracy Award. The Cuban police have arrested Iris numerous times, but so far have spared her the same fate as her brother or her husband, who was released from prison in April 2007 after more than 17 years in jail.

According to journalist Martín Valero, Iris is conducting her protest at her home in Placetas, in Santa Clara province.

For more about this brave woman, watch this video, produced by the National Endowment for Democracy:

The Courage To Be Free: Tribute to Cuban Democracy Activists from National Endowment for Democracy on Vimeo.

Human rights panel intervenes with Havana on prisoner's behalf (UPDATED)

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which is part of the Organization of American States, has intervened with the Cuban government on behalf of political prisoner Mario Alberto Pérez Aguilera, who reportedly is near death because of a hunger strike he started Sept. 5.

Pérez Aguilera, who is serving a 10-year sentenced handed down in 2006, started the hunger strike to protest how his human rights were being abused in prison.

The IACHR asked the Cuban government to keep it informed about what was doing to protect Pérez Aguilera's rights.

I am not sure of the practical effect of this — especially when it comes almost simultaneously with a United Nations vote condemning the United States embargo against Cuba — but it is encouraging to see an international agency like the IACHR step up on behalf of an individual political prisoner.

There needs to be more of that.

Read my profile of Pérez Aguilera, here.

UPDATED, Oct. 30, 2009 — Three activists were arrested and detained for about 6 hours at a Havana police station after they went to State Security headquarters and demanded information about Pérez's whereabouts.