Uncommon Sense

Andres Carrion Alvarez's shout at Papal Mass reveals the truth about Cuba

Andres Carrion Alvarez was born, raised and disillusioned in communist Cuba.

And after 40 years  poverty, repression and soulless living -- and supposedly the free education and health care that make Cuba such a wonderful place to live -- Andres Carrion Alvarez had had enough.

So on Monday, he went to the Papal Mass in Santiago de Cuba and going off the script for the Ptoemkin stageplay orchestrated by church and state, Carrion let out all his anger, frustration and grief.

Abajo el comunismo!

Down with communism!

If the Castro goons that hustled him away had given him a chance to go on, Carrion -- who on Friday turned 40 years old -- might have continued with his denouncements.

Down with the schools that turn children into slaves for the state and snitches on their parents.

Down with the health care system that caters best to the needs of the elite and kills patients because of its ineptitude.

Down with a system that sent out its goons to block Cubans who differ with the dictatorship from attending Mass.

Down with the secret police watching you on every corner, ready to pounce on any sign of rebellion or free expression of what a Cuban really thinks and wants.

Down with communism!

As bad as the conditions that drove Carrion to his courageous act are, they do not compare to what he probably has experienced during the past five days.

There has been no information released about his whereabouts and conditions, but Carrion presumably is locked away in one of the dictatorship's dungeons, suffering unimaginable tortures, until the moment the communist regime figures the world has forgotten about him.

But he will not be forgotten. Time will tell whether Carrion will inspire other Cubans to say, Basta! -- Enough! -- but his is already a powerful symbol of the desire for freedom that dwells in every man.

Hopefully, his example of acting on that desire will spread.

Show your support for Carrion and demand his safe release by signing this petition.

Crowd at Papal Mass in Havana cries out for 'Libertad' #Cuba #PopeCuba

The faithful have the final word.

In Cuba, Pope Benedict preaches about freedom, but his actions say something else #BenedictCuba

I read a transcript of Pope Benedict XVI's homily in Havana today, hoping to find something to convince me that His Holiness and the church he leads are on the right side of history, and on the right side in the struggle for freedom, in Cuba.

Unfortunately, there was little there to make me forget the message, intended and otherwise, in this photograph:

Amnesty International condemns latest round of repression in Cuba

Amnesty International sums up how the Castro dictatorship used the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to launch a brutal wave of repression:

Cuban human rights activists are facing a surge in harassment in a bid to silence them during the Pope's visit, Amnesty International said.
 
The clampdown has seen an increase in arrests, activists' phones have been disconnected and some have had their houses surrounded to prevent them denouncing abuses during Pope Benedict's tour.
 
Local human rights organizations, including the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, had their phone lines cut off since Monday. The mobile phones of prominent activists and government critics are suddenly unreachable.
 
“The communications’ blockade and the detention of more than 150 political opponents is yet another example of how authorities in Cuba completely disregard human rights,” said Javier Zúñiga, Special Advisor at Amnesty International.
 
“The Cuban authorities must urgently stop harassing activists and ensure everybody in Cuba is free to voice their opinions so activists can carry out their legitimate activities,” said Javier Zúñiga.
 
“In view of this situation, which contradicts his appeal for a ‘more open society’ in Cuba, the Pope should take a stand and lend his voice to those that have been left voiceless due to the ongoing repression and condemn the lack of freedoms in Cuba.”
 
On Monday 26 March, dozens of government opponents were detained in Santiago de Cuba where the Pope gave a public mass at the start of his visit.
 
Police and state security officers also surrounded the homes of many opponents and kept them under siege preventing them from attending the Pope’s mass or moving freely.
 
Short-term detentions of government opponents, human rights activists and independent journalists are routine in Cuba. On the lead up to the Pope’s visit, hundreds of government opponents were detained for short-periods of time, threatened or prevented from travelling freely.

Journalist Yosvani Anzardo among #Cuba activists arrested during papal visit

Yosvani Anzardo

Hundreds of Cuban opposition activists have been arrested in recent days, to conincide with the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the island.

Among them is independent journalist Yosvani Anzardo Hernández.

A former political prisoner, Anzardo was arrested Sunday morning near the hospital in the town of San German, in Holguin province. According to his wife, Anazardo had left his home the night before to deal with a family problem.

As is typical, Cuban State Security denied holding Anzardo.

With act of courage, anonymous Cuban man becomes a symbol of resistance

In 1989, a young Chinese man captured the attention of the world when he laid his life on the line and faced off against a row of tanks moving to crush the uprising against communist rule. An act of futility perhaps, but almost 23 years later his act of resistance remains a powerful symbol of resistance and courage.

In 2012, he has been joined in freedom's pantheon of anonymous heroes by this man, a young Cuban who on Monday as the Papal Mass in Santiago de Cuba was beginning rose up and declared, "Down with communism!" and "Freedom!"

Stepping from behind the Ptomekin facade the Castro regime constructed for Pope Benedict's visit, security agents grabbed the young man, roughed him up and dragged him to who knows where.

"Down with communism!"

"Freedom!"

The Castro dictatorship will try, but those words -- prayers, really, considering where and when they were delivered -- will not be silenced. They will echo in Cuba long after the pope has returned to Rome.

Like the young Chinese man who stood up to the tanks in Beijing, one nameless Cuban and his act of extraordinary bravery will not be forgotten.

I stand with fellow Cuban and journalist Luis Felipe Rojas and the Cuban Resistance

Luis Felipe Rojas is one of Cuba's most accomplished independent journalists and bloggers on the island. With each post, his blog slices through another strand of the barbed wire that has imprisoned Cuba for more than 53 years.

Which is why tonight Rojas is in jail, in to prevent from traveling from his home in Holguin, in eastern Cuba, to Havana to attend the papal Mass on Wednesday. In response, Rojas has started a hunger strike.

Pedazos de la Isla has more:

The author of the blog “Crossing the Barbed Wires“, Luis Felipe Rojas Rosabal, is still detained since last Saturday, March 24th.  Just days before his arrest, he had confirmed that his name was finally included on the list of those who would be allowed to travel to the Mass of Pope Benedict XVI on March 26th.  This occurred after communist functionaries had told him that either his wife or him could go, but not both.  After demanding his rights, they added both their names, as well as the names of their young children.  It seems that this, however, was just a taunt because the blogger was rapidly detained on the afternoon of the 24th.

Considering that the majority of telephone lines of dissidents on the island remain blocked, the information that has come out of Cuba has been scarce.  Together with Luis Felipe Rojas, there are countless other activists detained but very little information is known about their situations.  In the case of Rojas, the Baptist Cuban Pastor, Mario Barroso, managed to send out some Twitter messages(@maritovoz) detailing that the blogger remains detained “without having ingested any food or liquid”.  Barroso added that Rojas’ brother was “desperate” as he was very worried about his brother’s health.  In addition, the Pastor denounced the situation, explaining that Luis is a “devout Catholic” and was arrested “in order to keep him from assisting the Pope’s Mass”.  Meanwhile, Rojas’ wife, Exilda Arjona, and their two small children, Malcom (8) and Brenda (3) are surrounded in their own home in the town of San German by political police guards, under the threat that if they step out, they will be arrested.

This is just one of the many cases of in-communications, detentions, threats, and harassment against Cubans who demand freedom during these days in which Pope Benedict XVI travels throughout the island.

Papal visit to Cuba sparks mass arrests of dissidents

"You have made a mistake. ... I'm the pope, not a Lady in White."

For not even a papal visit, the repression in Cuba does not stop.

In fact, the Castro dictatorship is using Pope Benedict XVI's visit as an opportunity to settle accounts with some of its fervent opposition, unleashing a wave of arrests surely to generate the condemnation of the world -- if the world bothered to notice.

The numbers are uncertain, in the hundreds, if not more.

More impressive are the names, each one an example of courage and faith that remain strong despite the odds against them. Each one a patriot.

According to a prominent opposition group, they include:

Pinar del Rio:

Yaser Reinoso Ramos

La Habana:

Sara Marta Fonseca Quevedo,
Julio León Fonseca
Julio Aleaga Pesant (detenido en Santiago de Cuba)
William (bajista de grupo Porno para Ricardo)
Danilo (grupo Porno para Ricardo)
Ismael de Diego (grupo Porno para Ricardo)
Francisco Chaviano González
Enrique Losada
Julio Vega Santiesteban
Roberto Tapia Ferrer
Rubén Sanchez Vega
Leidi Coca Quesada
Omaida Padrón Ascuit
Jennifer Fonseca Padrón
Karen de Jesús
Belkis Felicia Jorrín Morfa
Lázara Mitjans Cruz
Blanca Hernández Moya
Naiyibis Corrales Jiménez
Laura Elena Capote Loret de Mola
Katia Sonia Martín Veliz
Ricardo Salabarría
Odalis Caridad Valdés Suárez
Raúl Ramírez Puig
Gerardo Páez Díaz
Ulises Cintra Suárez
Jerry Curbelo Aguilera
Manuel Cuesta Morúa
Alberto Méndez

Matanzas:

Leticia Ramos Herrería,
Emilio Bringas Evora
Mercedes de la Caridad De la Guardia
José Morejón Morejón
José Hernández López
Lázaro Díaz Sánchez

Cienfuegos:

Juan de Dios Medina Vazquez.

Santa Clara:

Rolando Ferrer Espinosa,
Maria del Carmen Martinez Lopez,
Natividad Blanco Carrero,

Camaguey:

Virgilio Mantilla Arango,
Elicardo Freire Jiménez
Osmani Leonardo Fernández.
Frank Adán de la Rosa
Rudel Montes de Oca Quesada

Las Tunas
 Ramón Velázquez Toranzo
Ismelis Quiñones Ortega

Holguin:

Luis Felipe Rojas Rosabal,
Delmides Fidalgo López,
Mariblanca Ávila Esposito,
Anni Sarrión Romero,
Juan Carlos Vázquez Osorio,
Jorge Luis Freeman Palermo,
Jorge Luis Claro Velazquez,
Juan Oriol Verdecia,
Rafael Meneses Pupo, Alexander Cruz,
Maritza Cardoso,
Caridad Caballero Batista,
Marta Díaz Rondón,
Milagros Leiva Ramírez.
Anyer Antonio Blanco Rodríguez
Eliécer Aranda Matos
Yeri Curbelo Aguilera
Eliécer Palma Pupo
Antonio Caballero Pupo
Bernardo Torres Roldán
Maira Guerrero Silva
Bertha Guerrero Segura
Marco Antonio Lima Dalmao
Adis Nidia Cruz Sebré
Isabel Peña Torres
Judith Ferrer Segura
Yosvany Anzarda

Granma

Emiliano González Olivera
Yaquelin García Hans

Santiago de Cuba:

Misael Valdés Díaz,
Jorge Cervantes García
Guillermo Cobas Reyes
Liudmila Rodriguez Palomo,
Angel Verdecia Díaz
Andry Verdecia Osorio
Ramón Bolaños Martínez
Sergio Lescay Despaigne
Maikel Osorio Martínez
Rulisán Ramírez Rodríguez
Rolando Humberto González Rodríguez
Yelena Garcés Nápoles
Eduardo Pérez Martínez
Armando Sánchez La O
Angel Lino Isaac Luna
Karina Quintana Hernández
Yannai Ferrer Santos
Ana Celia Rodriguez Torres
José Batista Falcón
Miguel Rafael Cabrera Montoya
José Enrique Martínez Ferrer
Bismark Mustelier Galán
Dani López de Moya
Luis Ernrique Losada Igarza
Mercedes Fernández Fonseca
Adriana Figueredo Fernández
Yaima Bejerano Díaz
Doraisa Correoso Pozo
Adriana Núñez Pascual
Madelaine Santos Grillo
Agustín Ferrer
Ovidia Martín Catellanos
Yoselin Ferrera Espinosa
Jesús Priman Salermo
Annia Alegre Pécora, Yarisel Figueredo Valdés
Omaidis González Leiva
Tania Montoya Vázquez
Yanelis Elégica Despaigne
Vivian Peña Hernández
Yunieski Domínguez González
Roberto González Feria
Ángel Mir Espinosa,
Alexis Yanchoi Kuán Jerez
Anyer Antonio Blanco
Eliécer Martínez Ferrer
Ovidio Martí Calderín
Yoselín Ferrera Espinosa
Adriana Rodríguez Fernández
Rafael Alvarez Rodríguez
Rubén Torres Saínz
Yaquelín Baín García
Aliana Isaac Lemus
Juana Irena Parada
Ernesto Roberto Riverit
Andrés Pérez Suárez
Reinaldo Castillo Martínez
Tatiana López Blanco
Yesica Casternao Jorrín

Guantánamo:

Francisco Luis Manzanet Ortiz
Roberto González Pelegrín,
Rodolfo Bartelemy Cobas,
Isael Poveda Silva,
Reinier Cubas,
Randy Caballero Suárez,
Roneidi Leiva Salas
Yordis Sofía Rodríguez
Raúl Durán Montero
Roberto Quiñones Lores
Enyor Díaz Allen
Oscar Savón Pantoja
Ramón Olivares Abello
Rogelio Laborde Rivero
Yordis García Fournier
Eldri Abello Batista

Under house arrest:

Pinar del Río

Yoel Reinoso,
Víctor Rodríguez Morejón,
Raquel Rodríguez Riverón,
Dianelis Rodríguez Suárez,
Yoangel Palacios Hernández,
Luis Enrique Milián,
Jose Rolando Caceres Soto,
Adalberto Abascal Quintana,
Roberto Blanco Gil,
Raquel Rodriguez Suarez
Eduardo Diaz Fleitas.

La Habana

Jorge Castor Veliz Díaz, René Rouco Machín
Eriberto Liranza Romero

Villa Clara

Yris Pérez Aguilera
Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez”
 Idania Yánez Contreras
Yanisbel Valido Perez,
Alcides Rivera Rodríguez

Santiago de Cuba:

José Daniel Ferrer García
Yoandri Fuertes Hernández
Wildo Izaguirre Fuentes
Belkis Cantillo Ramírez
Aymeé Garcés Leiva
Marta Beatriz Ferrer Cantillo (menor de edad)
Daniela Valcárcel Garcés (menor de edad)
Yusmel Acosta Aguilera, Caimanera,

Guantánamo:

Jorge Corrales Ceballos
Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina

I stand with Jose Daniel Ferrer and the Cuban Resistance

Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, journalist, human rights activist and former prisoner of conscience, is one of the bravest members of the Cuban Resistance, bravely taking his post on the front lines of the struggle for freedom to inform his fellow Cubans and people everywhere about the repression that is part of the daily lives of so many Cubans.

I am proud to stand in support.

You can follow Ferrer on Twitter @jdanielferrer.

Cuban police round up beggars in advance of Pope Benedict XVI

The repression in Cuba in advance of Pope Benedict XVI's visit this week has been extended to include as its victims the most "defenseless and vulnerable" in Cuban society.

Human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez complained Sunday that police have rounded up and jailed beggars and other street people to keep them out of the view of pilgrims, journalists and others visiting Cuba for the pope's visit. Sanchez, head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said the detainees are being held in a facility known as "La Colonia," off the highway leading to Havana's international airport.

"Our committee believes that the forced internment of these defenseless and completely vulnerable people is a disgusting violation of human rights by a government that favors first, its own political image," Sanchez said.