If you read enough MSM stories about Raul Castro — and you believe both what they say, and what they leave unsaid — you'd think he's a gentler, kinder dictator. Surely, he's no democrat, but he's open to change, and more tolerant of dissent. Complete fiction, of course, but you have to give his handlers credit. They spin a good line, and a compliant media goes along, to get along or whatever.
Most of the political prisoners in the Cuban gulag are on Fidel Castro, locked away because they dared to oppose his regime, or maybe just on the bearded bastard's whim. But the oppression and repression did not stop with Fidel's surgery in the summer of 2006 and ascent of his little brother. There have been plenty of dissidents locked up during his rule.
Just ask Julián Antonio Monés Borrero.
Monés, and three other members of the John Paul II Reconciliation and Peace Movement, were arrested last Jan. 27, when they tried to attend the investiture of a new Catholic bishop in Guantanamo. Details of his prosecution were sketchy, but at some point Monés was convicted of a supposed crime and sentenced to one year of house arrest.
In October, Monés was sent to Paso de Cuba prison in the far eastern part of the country, because he was continuing to participate in dissident activities.
Just before Christmas, Payo Libre reported that Monés' health had worsened. He suffers from low blood pressure but the best a prison doctor could do for him is to suggest he place salt beneath his tongue, because the needed medicine was not available.
One of the surest indicators of the repressive nature of the Castro regime is the jailing of political prisoners. To illustrate that reality, Uncommon Sense each week profiles one prisoner. There also is a Political Prisoner archive on the right sidebar. To suggest a prisoner for a profile, send me an e-mail.
For profiles of imprisoned Cuban journalists and related information, read the March 18 Project.
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