The Castro dictatorship and its secret police went all out for events marking what would have been the 43rd birthday of Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
It figures, since it was the Castro dictatorship that killed Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
Cuban Democratic Directorate has the story:
May 15, 2010. Cuban Democratic Directorate. Nationwide repression by the Castro regime's political police and brave actions by the Cuban resistance marked what would have been Cuban prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo's 43rd birthday.
Zapata Tamayo's death earlier this year while on a hunger strike of over 80 days was caused by the Castro regime, who refused him water for a prolonged period of time and denied him adequate medical attention. Zapata's mother, Reyna Luisa Tamayo Danger, who has been beaten repeatedly during the past month by State Security-organized mobs for visiting her son's grave, successfully reached his resting place in the cemetary of the town of Banes. There, she paid tribute to his memory with relatives and human rights activists.
“The mobs were stationed in the vicinity of my house from the early morning on. The town of Banes has been under military occupation for several days. But we left [for the cemetery] when we judged it was the right time. We placed flowers, sang the national anthem, prayed, and perfumed my son Zapata's grave,” stated Reyna Luisa Tamayo Danger to the Cuban Democratic Directorate by telephone from Banes.
Tamayo Dange added that many activists had been detained at their homes, and that Martha Diaz Rondon, vice-coordinator of the Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights had been detained since Friday, and that she had been threatened by political police with having her mouth and teeth smashed if she were to shout “Zapata Lives!”
Police operations were also reported in other cities in Cuba. In Santa Clara on Saturday afternoon, May 15th, State Security agents raided the home of Idania Yanez Contreras, president of the Central Opposition Coalition, and violently arrested a group of opposition activists who were there to take part in a prayer vigil for the sake of Zapata's soul.
“They beat Idania, and arrested many activists. The city here is under military occupation, and the climate is one of great tension,” stated leading opposition activist Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, usually known as “Antunez.”
In Antilla, Holguin, Cristian Toranzo Fundichely, an activist from the Cuban Youth Movement for Democracy, stated that activists Mildred Nohemi Sanchez Infante and Angel Batista Vega had been detained in a rural area on the outskirts of Banes. Other activists from Holguin, including Toranzo Fundichely and independent journalists Luis Felipe Rojas Rosabal and Caridad Caballero Batista, are unable to leave their homes which are surrounded and besieged by Castro regime political police.
“There are big problems with the police here. Signs reading “Zapata Lives” and “We are hungry” have appeared on at the [state-owned] Cuba Petroleum company building on 28th of January Avenue and Final street. This is a heavily guarded area, where only authorized personnel are allowed entry. The signs appeared on interior doors and walls,” reported Toranzo Fundichely. He added that opposition activists succeeded in gathering to pay tribute to Zapata's memory, and placed a sign outside one activist's home that read “Zapata and Pedro Luis Boitel Live.”
Heavy repression was also reported in Cuba's easternmost province, Santiago de Cuba. Rolando Rodriguez Lobaina, of the Eastern Democratic Alliance, stated that police checkpoints were set up at every entrance and exit to the city of Guantanamo. He also reported that local activists had been arrested.
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