Former Cuban political prisoner Paneque: 'I have to carry this cross'

José Luis García Paneque

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has published an interview with former Cuban political prisoner José Luis García Paneque, in which he describes his arrest, imprisonment and how he doesn't feel all that free living in exile in Spain.

RFE/RL: You were in prison in Cuba for seven years, and were released in July, and since then have been living in exile in Spain. How does it feel to be free, and to be living in a country like Spain after spending your whole life in such a closed society?

Jose Luis Garcia Paneque: Look, mankind is born free, but not everyone is allowed to be free. In reality, for me to recover my freedom feels very good, but I can't tell you that I am happy, or that I have triumphed. No one who lacks freedom or the ability to vote in their country can feel content or happy, or feel pleasure, or say that "I have triumphed. I am free, I am free," no. In reality, although we are no longer under pressure, it is not welcome, and therefore we can't sing, triumph, or say that we have earned anything. We were simply deported to another country, we were sent to Spain, we were put here in this new year. There is work here to continue fighting for the liberation of my country, for democratic changes on the island.

RFE/RL: During your time spent in prison you were in solitary confinement for 17 months. What was it like? What was the most difficult experience you had in jail?

Paneque: The pressure scarred us, and really, all the moments in prison were hard, but the time spent in silence was much harder. They confined us to isolation cells. This was a system of punishment where you lose all links of social interaction. When a person no longer has those bonds they come apart in a vicious cycle. It's as if time doesn't exist. This devastates the bodies of human beings. But I have to carry this cross, and I am actually also very proud of that.

Really, I feel proud of what I have done, because the pressure is gone, I don't feel any shame, and I feel content. What is more, I give the most thanks to God because I am free from prison. Today I have been able to come to Europe without hate or resentment. I haven't come here because I hate my country; completely the opposite. I have come to Spain -- I have come to Europe -- to request solidarity. I have come to Europe so that people will listen to me, so that they will know of the suffering of more than 11 million Cubans who have been drowning in a dictatorship for more than 51 years. Really, this is what hasn't changed; [my wish] for peaceful lives, for democratic lives.

RFE/RL: You were sentenced to 24 years in jail after being arrested for publishing a magazine. Could you elaborate on your arrest and the charges against you?

Paneque: We were the most visible. We put ourselves in a position of being antiestablishment; we made ourselves the opposition to the regime that governs my country. I was an alternative journalist. I was part of a group, an association of independent journalists that's called the Manuel Marquez Sterling Journalists’ Association. We published a magazine within Cuba, and the magazine was called "De Cuba." We managed to publish first, within Cuba, three issues. By the time the third issue came out we had already been arrested. This was the primary reason for us going to prison, for our position against the regime. For opposing it; nothing else.

Read the whole interview below the fold.

And read Paneque's blog, here.

(H/T to Babalú.)