Uncommon Sense

Cuba still suffers, but the media look away

The repression in Cuba is as pervasive as ever under Raul Castro.

Political opponents thrown into prison.

Women beaten in the streets.

No Internet for most Cuban citizens.

But the American media continues to miss and/or ignore what anywhere else -- say South Africa in the 1980s or Egypt in 2011 -- would be a big story.

On Cuba, however, there is nothing but silence.

Mike Gonzalez of the Heritage Foundation presents a powerful indictment:

Last week, just outside Cuba’s holiest Catholic shrine, government thugs attacked in plain daylight a group of opposition women -- beating them, stoning them and stripping them naked to the waist. The women, mostly black and middle-aged, suffered this public humiliation because they were trying to find a dignified way to bring attention to the plight of their husbands, who are in prison for freely speaking their minds.

The archbishop of Santiago de Cuba has condemned the attack. You can find an eyewitness account in Spanish here:

It should make for poignant watching today, the anniversary of the start of the Cuban Revolution.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing unusual in this grotesque attack on the Damas de Blanco (or Ladies in White, the harassed association of wives of political prisoners) on the street outside the shrine of Our Lady of La Caridad del Cobre. It’s routine for Cubans to be publicly degraded, brutalized and imprisoned when they dare speak their minds. Their daily existence has been one of fear and wretched suffering for 50 years now.

Yet the chances are that you probably haven’t heard about this story. A quick Google search of the attacks on the Damas de Blanco turned up only about five hits, none from a major publication. Why?

Not because it’s a dog-bites-man story (literally, in this case), as some journalists might have you believe. No, it’s simply because the media don’t report the daily attacks on the Cuban dissidents.

Read the whole thing here.

Beatings, arrests, vandalism in Palma Soriano impede Ladies in White from marching

Pedazos de la Isla has a powerful report that in vivid detail illustrates the horror that is the Castro dictatorship. Here it is in its entirety:

Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia explains that the peaceful march planned by the Ladies in White, which would begin from the Our Lady of the Rosary Church after a mass, could not be carried out on Sunday July 24th because since the day before “there were arrests and houses surrounded.  Members of the repressive political police, together with members from the National Police and members of the so-called Rapid Response Brigade had surrounded various homes here in Palma Soriano“.  In addition, these repressive forces also set up various checkpoints throughout the region.  In those ‘security’ points, Jose Daniel explains that “they were stopping cars and asking for ID cards.  They did not let those who are known as dissidents pass“.

This strategy was implemented in order to arrest dissidents, Ladies in White in their majority, who had planned to take part in march in Palma Soriano where they demand rights, respect, and freedom for jailed dissidents and all of the Cuban people in a peaceful manner.  “This led to approximately 20 arrests“, points out Ferrer Garcia, adding that “the women from Bayamo who decided to go out notified us via phone that they were on their way but then we did not hear from them again, their cell phones give no answer, so logic indicates that they are detained“.  Similar cases sprouted up in Santiago de Cuba.  Though some of these cases were not possible to confirm, considering that many phone lines being inactive or blocked.  The number of arrests, however, is estimated to have been over 20.  Jose Daniel Ferrer’s phone was also blocked for a period of time during the crackdown.

The sinister habit of physical aggression was not excluded.  “Various women were beaten“, narrates Ferrer Garcia, citing names such as Belkis Castillo (his wife), Noami Infante, Ana Celia Rodriguez, and others.  Also, “Hector Felix Labrada Munoz received some physical blows.  He then went out to seek medical assistance at a clinic while presenting a certificate which listed the injuries he had just suffered which were all over his body, including on one of his eyes.  Despite this, the doctor at the center denied him assistance, and soon thereafter one of the guards in the clinic kicked him out“.  The list of some of the other names of dissidents who suffered the violence include Lazaro Alonso Parada, Pedro Manuel Guerrero, Ruben Torres Saiz, Manuel Martinez Cabrera, and Vivian Pena Hernandez.  Ferrer adds that two neighbors- Yaritza Echevarria and Noeliber Cors- joined in solidarity with the dissidents being oppressed.  These neighbors stood between the oppressors and the victims being beaten in an attempt to stop the kicks and punches.  Because of this, the neighbors were also strongly beaten.  As for Ferrer, he was also a victim of the violence, stating that he received “various punches“.

The dictatorship’s forces also turned to vandalism in their attempt to demoralize and attack the opposition.  In the home of the dissident couple Aime Garces Leiva and Julio Ballester, the mobs “used black paint to write phrases on the walls of the house in favor of the regime; phrases such as ‘Long Live Fidel’ and ‘Long Live Raul‘,” explains the former political prisoner of conscience, who classified the paintings as “extremely low, and not to mention sloppy“.  As if this was not enough, some of the attackers hurled eggs at the house.  “Also the home of Agustin Parades“, a family which Ferrer described as “very brave and one which has various members in the opposition” suffered similar attacks.

These photos, demonstrating some of the slogans painted on by the robotic Castro-commanded mobs as well as the remainders of eggs hurled at the home, were published on Facebook by Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia, brother of Jose Daniel, who is exiled in Spain.

Although the march could not be carried out, and although a number of beatings and arrests occurred, on this 24th of July one could notice the important refusal on behalf of various neighbors to participate and be accomplices of the supposed spontaneous mob attacks and of so much violence, as was demonstrated by the fact that various neighbors tried to protect the dissidents.  “Many of these brave people are already in the opposition, while others are not“, affirms Ferrer Garcia.  One can also note what Jose Daniel Ferrer describes as the regime’s “nervousness” of soon losing control.  Because of these worries on behalf of the dictatorship, one can note the increase of attacks, aggressions, and offenses.  Regardless, tired but not defeated, these dissidents will not give up in the face of such absurd and repressive actions.  Marching peacefully, dissenting from a dictatorship, and demanding inalienable human rights is not a crime, and because of this, these activists will continue marching, and they will continue demanding what belongs to them and to everyone- freedom.

—————–

The following day, July 25th, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia published these Twitter messages (my translation):

jdanielferrer jose daniel ferrer:

#cuba.Mildrei Noemi, Lady in White from Antillas, is still detained.  We do not know where she is being kept.  She was violently arrested yesterday in Palma Soriano.

jdanielferrer jose daniel ferrer:

After the arrests, beatings, and mob attacks against dissidents, a few posters with anti-Castro slogans propped up in Palma Soriano

jdanielferrer jose daniel ferrer:

“Down with Fidel”, read one of the posters placed in soda factory, just two streets down from the home of Aimee Garces.

Another Cuban pastor fired because of his ties to political opposition

The corruption of organized religion in Cuba on behalf of the Castro dictatorship continues to expand.

Via Hablalo Sin Miedo and with a translation by Babalu, former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia reports:

Message from José D. Ferrer regarding Pastor Lorenzo Rosales who was expelled from his church 8:11 AM

Listen to the message without fear

Transcription:

Pastor Lorenzo Rosales expelled from his church.

Reverend David Moreno, National Superintendent of the Open Bible Church, has expelled Pastor Lorenzo Rosales from this christian denomination on orders from political authorities.

"Find yourself another denomination where you can keep working because it is not healthy for us that you continue working with Open Bible with the situations you have caused recently with State authorities and the pastors of the eastern region. For now, I am letting you know that I will communicate to the corresponding authorities as soon as possible the end of your membership in the church, and your removal as pastor of our churches." This is what was written in a letter to Rosales dated July 11.

Only 7 months prior, Reverend Moreno had written Pastor Rosales a letter full of praise for his work as the superintendent in the eastern region of Cuba. "We are very moved with what is happening in the eastern part of the country through the ministry of the Open Bible," he said in the letter.

Pastor Lorenzo Rosales lives in Palma Soriano and his mobile number is +5353361741.

End of message.

 

Cuba ex-political prisoner Pedro Argüelles may be out of jail, but that doesn't mean he is 'free'

The decision by 12 members of the Group of 75 prisoners of conscience to reject the chance to take exile in Spain was courageous not because their intransigence earned them more time in prison.

They were brave because they chose to remain in Cuba where since their eventual release they have remained subjected to threats from the Castro regime and its agents.

Several of them have been arrested; and the best-known of them, Dr. Oscar Biscet has been ordered each week to check in with police — an order Biscet said he had no intention of following.

The most recent to be targeted is Pedro Argüelles Morán, who reported receiving a threatening phone call from a scoundrel named Juan Brunet.

"How did this guy find my number when it's not even in the phone book?" Argüelles asked. "It appears that this was not a spontaneous initiative by him but in response to instructions he received."

Argüelles said the fear is that this phone call and others recently taken by his wife, might be followed by further attacks against him.

In Cuba, the police beat up women leaving Sunday morning Mass

Even for the Castro dictatorship, with more than 52 years of outrages against the Cuban people, what happened this past Sunday at the El Cobre sanctuary was shocking.

Via the Coalition of Cuban American Women:

Havana, Cuba

July 18, 2011

FROM:   The Ladies in White, a movement that since 2003 has demanded the release of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience who are deprived of their freedom by the Cuban government.

REGARDING:  An accusation of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment by the Cuban government against the peaceful opposition movement, The Ladies in White.

Last Sunday morning, July 17, 2011, sixteen Ladies in White and Ladies of Support went to the sanctuary of El Cobre, located in the town of the same name in Santiago de Cuba Province, with the objective of participating in a mass.

When the mass concluded and after the women prayed and asked for the release of political prisoners, they got ready to begin a peaceful march through the sidewalks in this town.  Upon starting the journey, forces from the so-called Rapid Response Brigade, previously posted in the surrounding areas of the sanctuary and under the direction of agents of Section 21 of State Security, began to throw stones and shout offensive slurs against the dignity of these Cuban women.

Not fully satisfied with this criminal behavior, the officials of Section 21, Department of State Security (S-21-DSE) gave a previously planned order directly to several women to attack the Ladies in White and Ladies in Support.

1. Belkis Cantillo suffered a serious wound to her right arm when she was attacked by a woman who was a member of the mob with a perforated instrument (scissors).  It was necessary to suture her wound.

2. Aymee Garces Leyva suffered serious wounds as a result of the beating, which caused a fistula on one of her vertebra.

3. Tania Montoya lost consciousness as a result of the beating.  Her clothes were half-torn off of her as well.

On May 1, 2010, the Cuban government agreed with the Catholic Church as its witness (that is, his Imminence Cardinal Jaime Ortega) that the Ladies in White would not be reprimanded by the Rapid Response Brigades, an agreement which was broken on December 9, 2010, when repressive acts began again on the evening of December 10^th, the international remembrance of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The socio-economic situation in Cuba continues to deteriorate, and as a consequence, criticism against the government is growing, and as a result, actions by the peaceful, non-violent opposition are growing inside of Cuba as well.  Parallel to this increase in opposition, the government is accelerating, perfecting, modernizing, equipping, and increasing its repressive efforts.  As a result, we do not rule out increased and escalated repressive efforts by the Cuban government, and for this reason, we call attention to the following:

That during the act of repression against the Ladies in White and the Ladies of Support at the Sanctuary of El Cobre in Santiago de Cuba Province:

a. the repressive mobs used stones, sticks, and perforated cutting instruments against the women

b. Men, who were members of the mob, kicked and beat the women.

Peacefully, we remember that the United Nations, on more than just a few occasions, has condemned violence against women, and Cuba, a member nation of this organization, has a government that promotes violence against them.  Specifically, Cuba finances, organizes and directs this violence.

Given from Havana, Cuba

The Ladies in White

Berta Soler (telephone: + 53 52906820)

Laura Pollán (telephone: + 53 8734156)

For more about the attacks, listen to this:

Cuban dictatorship uses murderer to target political prisoner

Walfrido Rodriguez

Murder has always been part of the Castro dictatorship's M.O. so it is no surprise that the regime is using a convicted murderer to up its repression of Cuban political prisoner Walfrido Rodriguez.

The regime routinely orders, bribes, etc. "common" prisoners to target political prisoners, to retaliate for their continued activism behind bars and to keep its hands blood-free.

In Rodriguez's case, the thugs in charge at the Combinado del Este prison outside Havana ordered convicted murderer Enrique Esquivel to attack Rodriguez. The goal, according to Rodriguez, seems to be to provoke a response that would give the authorities an excuse to file another case against him.

Rodriguez and three other activists were arrested in January while distributing anti-Castro leaflets in Havana. Convicted of "contempt" and "public disorder," one of the four was sentenced to 3 years in prison, and the others, including Rodriguez, were sentenced to 5 years in jail.

May the spirit of Archbishop Meurice roar until Cuba is free

Archbishop Meurice and Pope John Paul II, 1998

Archbishop Emeritus Pedro Meurice Estiu, a Cuban patriot and a true man of God, died Thursday in Miami. He was 79.

A fierce critic of the Castro dictatorship, Archbishop Meruice stood in sharp contrast to Cardinal Jaime Ortega, refusing to accommodate in any way with the regime. Instead, Meurice used his position and his stature and his faith to stand up for the Cuban people and against the forces that were repressing them.

That was made clear in at a papal Mass during a 1998 visit to Santiago by Pope John Paul II.

"Our people are respectful of authority, and want order, but they need to learn to demystify false messiahs," Archbishop Meurice said during the Mass, which was attended by future dictator Raul Castro.

Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez offers a fitting tribute to "the lion of the East":

They called Archbishop Pedro Meurice Estiu “the lion of the East” for his more-than-proven bravery in the face of the arbitrary and authoritarian. That January 24, 1998, in Antonia Maceo Plaza in Santiago de Cuba, his face is serious, deep in thought. Pope John Paul II has just finished his homily and the Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba was to address his flock and the Shepherd who had come to visit it. Before taking the podium, Meurice spoke with the priest Jose Conrado Rodriguez Alegre and told him, “This lion is old with a shaggy mane, but it will roar.” He took the microphone and kept his word.

Facing the surprised Santiagans gathered there, and those who were watching the live on television, Meurice’s address seems to interpret our thoughts, to spring from our own mouths. “Holy Father… I present to you a growing number of Cubans who have confused the country with a party, the nation with a historical process we have lived through in recent decades, culture with an ideology.” And on this side of the screen, many of us did not stop applauding, crying, jumping, looking at the shocked and annoyed face of Raul Castro at the foot of the dais. No one had told the Minister of the Armed Forces–in public and before so many witnesses–truths of this nature. Some escaped in fear from that immense square, but others? The boldest? They were chanting the word, “Freedom.”

“This is a people that has the richness of joy, and a material poverty that saddens and overwhelms it, barely letting it see beyond immediate subsistence,” the lion continued to roar. And in our lethargic civic consciousness something began to stir. Meurice had returned to his years of greatest vitality and the swords that emerged from the ground of that Plaza flew in the face of a rebelliousness lost in some corner of history. For a few brief moments we were free. The homily ended, the severe gesture of our current president presaged scoldings for the old lion, but the crook of John Paul II would protect him.

Today, Pedro Meurice has left us, with his nobility of the feline guardian of the litter, leaving us with the responsibility to present ourselves to the world. How are we going to describe ourselves now? Who will be believe that 13 years later we haven’t been able to “demystify the false messiahs”? How will we explain the fear that has led to paralysis, to continuing to wait for others who will roar for us?

Cuba ex-political prisoner pleads for international support

  Angel Moya Acosta

Blogger Raul Garcia has been providing an invaluable service to the cause of Cuban freedom, using his Pedazos de la Isla blog to profile various opposition figures -- and translating their words into English.

In a recent post, Raul quotes former prisoner of conscience Angel Moya Acosta, in response to his most recent exchange with Cuban police, delivering a plea for international support clear and powerful enough to understand, even by those ignorant and/or indolent about what is at stake in Cuba today.

"(W)e are urgently calling on the international community so that they monitor and keep a close watch over the situation in Cuba. ...It is very important for the international community to assume this position, so that it is known what the henchmen -- Raul Castro and his brother Fidel Castro -- are doing, and so that they don’t act without impunity.  It would represent a grand support for us, that the international community not forget about those detained, and those accused just for political reasons in Cuba."

Former Cuban political prisoner Librado Linares honored

Librado Linares García

Librado Linares García is one of 12 former "Group of 75" prisoners of conscience released from jail earlier this year but only after they refused to accept forced exile to Spain as a condition of their "freedom." Their intransigence earned them extra time in prison before the Castro regime relented, released them and allowed them to remain in Cuba.

To varying degrees, each of the 12 has resumed their respective roles in the struggle for Cuban liberty.

Various human rights organization on Friday will honor Linares by awarding him the 11th Pedro Luis Boitel Freedom Award, during an event in Miami. The award, named after a prisoner of conscience murdered by the Castro dictatorship, is presented each year to honor Cuban freedom activists.

Linares suffered much during his 8 years in the Castro gulag, including almost losing his eyesight, but he has not lost his faith in a free Cuba.

The sponsors of the award have made a wise choice.

Cuban independent journalist Yoandris Gutiérrez Vargas arrested, detained

Yoandris Gutiérrez Vargas and his wife Annia Peralta Zapata

Cuban independent journalist Yoandris Gutiérrez Vargas has been in police custody since July 10, when he and his wife Annia Peralta Zapata were detained while on their way to church.

"You are detained! We have orders to take you in," two police officers told the couple as they were heading to the Baptist church in Bayamo, where they are members, according to a report published by the CIHPRESS news agency for which he is a correspondent.

Peralta, an activist with the Federation of Latin American Rural Women, reported they were taken to a police station outside of Las Tunas — along with members of political prisoner Ariel Arazuaga's family — and that Gutiérrez, a former political prisoner, was later transferred to a jail outside of Santiago de Cuba.

Gutiérrez has served at least two prison sentences, including one year in 2006-07 after he hung an altered Cuban flag — the white stripes, he turned black as a sign of mourning, and he wrote "75" on it to honor the Group of 75 prisoners of conscience; and two years in 2008-10 for "disrespecting" Fidel Castro.

More recently, he has been harassed, arrested, detained, etc. numerous times, as detailed in a recent report from Reporters Without Borders.

For more about Gutiérrez, read a recent post from Cuban blogger Luis Felipe Rojas in which Gutiérrez describes his experiences while in prison and his commitment to a free Cuba:

"Despite of all that has happened, I tell my oppressors to repent, to cease staining their hands with blood.  And to those who have kidnapped the happiness of Cuba, remember that we have all been created by the same God.  I tell them to repent before it’s too late for them.  Cuba needs to live in freedom, just like other nations of the world.  We Cubans have the right to be free and that is why many of us are fighting for it."