The Castro dictatorship on April sent a mob of more than 100 people to attack human rights activist Sara Martha Fonseca Quevedo and her family.
The mob broke into their home and beat them, and then the police arrested them, all because of their opposition to the dictatorship and their work for freedom.
After reading Pedazos de la Isla's interview with Fonseca, it is clear which side won this battle between the forces of tyranny and one of Cuba's most valiant freedom fighters:
Sara Marta Fonseca Quevedo, along with her family, is a perfect example of the desperation felt by the Cuban people. However, at the same time, she is an example of the bravery seen in Cubans who have decided to publicly confront the Castro dictatorship. In a country where those who exercise power openly justify and and sponsor mob attacks because they “cannot deny the right of the people to defend their revolution” (as said by General Raul Castro during the 6th Communist Party Congress), people like Sara Marta are true threats to the absolute control and monopoly of violence assumed by the regime.
For this reason, while much of the international press covered the 6th Congress (with very little spoken about the massive military march which occurred just hours before the event), and while the owners of power presented a list of “reforms” or “changes” in the island, the same repressive apparatus as always was unleashed at the home of Sara Marta Fonseca Quevedo, the executive secretary of the Cuban Pro-Human Rights Party and spokesperson for the Orlando Zapata Tamayo National Civic Resistance and Civil Disobedience Front.
“This past 18th of April, they once again committed a savage act of state terrorism against us,” Sara Marta tells us. But this is nothing new for the dissident. “We have already suffered more than 15 or 16 horrible mob attacks here at my house”, she affirms. However, in comparison with the other violent attacks carried out against her, the most recent one included a massive number of people which took part in the violence. “More than 100 people took part. They were under the orientation and direction of the repressive State Security organs. They broke into our home, they jumped the fence, and opened our windows with sticks and iron bars and threatened us while they tried to hit us through the windows. They also verbally offended us, harassed us with profane language, and also threw rocks at us through the window. It was terrible”.
“They proved to be people who lack any sort of dignity, respect, or principles. In fact, they are very much capable of killing if they have to, as you will all see when the images come out. Those people sent to attack us don’t even look like human beings, they are more like beasts”.
It came to the point where Sara Marta could no longer remain inside her house. She simply could not withstand so much injustice in silence and behind her house walls.
“At that moment when the rocks began to fly through my window, which almost hit my head and my mom’s head who was sitting right by me, I decided to go out to the street. I thought that if blood was to to be spilled, then it should be spilled in the streets in front of all the people and neighbors so they can see how a family is assassinated just for protesting against the system. Because it is our right, we had decided to put up some signs on our house. Some read, “Down with the assassins Raul and Fidel Castro!”, “Long live human rights!”, ,”Down with the murderous 6th Communist Party Congress of Cuba!”, and “We demand rights for all Cubans!”
“I was the first to go out to the street. I went up to them, because although we are peaceful and defend our rights in a completely peaceful manner, I did not believe that our blood should run inside our house. It should be spilled on the street, and I am convinced that if we would have been killed, it would have been the end of the dictatorship because I know the people will not stand seeing defenders of human rights being slaughtered out on the street. That’s why I approached them, I was determined to face whatever consequences. I did not think I was going to get out of this alive, I truly did not think I would”.
Read the whole thing here.
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