Cuban independent librarians are not the silent type. First, of all they are Cubans, who are not known for being quiet.
More importantly, in Cuba independent librarians are in the vanguard of the opposition, hosting citadels of freedom of across the island where Cubans can read whatever they want free of the Castro dictatorship's censors.
Which is why in Cuba independent librarians are often treated as enemies of the state, imprisoned and otherwise oppressed and repressed by the Castro regime.
One of Cuba's leading independent librarians, Julio Cesar Valcárcel Ballester, this week was arrested and detained for more than three hours by police in Santiago de Cuba. While in jail, police interrogated Valcárcel, executive director of the Independent Libraries of Cuba, about the growth of independent libraries in Cuba and about a citizens' initiative demanding that the government allow Cubans to freely travel on the island.
"The repressive machinery's fear of the alternative information offered by independent libraries is real," Valcárcel said.
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