Uncommon Sense

Cuban activist Antunez arrested Sunday by Castro police

Me and Antunez, Tampa, Aug. 31, 2013.

Jorge Luis Perez Garcia, "Antunez," was arrested Sunday by the Castro police. Other activists took to Twitter to report what little is known about the circumstances of his arrest and his current whereabouts.

I met and broke bread with Antunez and his wife late last summer during their visit to the United States. I was already admirer but after seeing and hearing him first-hand, it was clear that he is the dynamic, courageous leader the Cuban resistance needs to fight the regime.

Which may explain why, as he has numerous times before, he was arrested.

Another day of protest and repression in Venezuela, 5/14/14

Inspired -- and ordered by its patrons in Havana -- the Venezuelan dictatorship continues to unleash its fury against Venezuelans seeking a better country. The photos do not lie.

See more photos below the fold.

Political arrests continue at a torrid pace in Cuba; more than 360 in first 13 days of May

The Castro dictatorship's secret policemen never take a break. That's clear from the latest released statistics detailing political repression in Cuba.

The Hablemos Press news agency and human rights group reported Tuesday that in the first 13 days of May, it had recorded more than 360 politically motivated arrests on the island.

The roundups included:

•  The May 8 arrests of 18 activists in Santa Clara to block them from laying flowers at the grave of Juan Wilfredo Soto, a political prisoner murdered by the regime on May 8, 2011.
• This past weekend, May 10-11, some 90 members of the Damas De Blanco, or "Ladies In White," were arrested in several Cuban cities to block them from attending Mass and other activities to commemorate Mothers Day.
• The May 12 arrests of 31 members of the FANTU-UNPACU opposition coalition, leading member Guillermo Farinas, a past recepient of the European Union's top human rights prize. The activists were arrested to block them from gathering for a meeting at Farinas' home.
• On the next day, May 13, 32 members of the Commission of Assistance to Political Prisoners and Family Members (CAPPF) were arrested to block them from gathering at the group's headquarters in Havana. As of Tuesday evening, the whereabouts of at least seven of those arrested were not know.

Other opposition groups reported similar targeting by Cuban police and security forces, according to the Hablemos Press report.

The repression this month comes in the wake of events in April, an especially brutal month for the Cuban opposition.

Hablemos Press said Tuesday it had recorded 884 political arrests in April, bringing the total for the year to 3,478, or less than 400 fewer than the number of arrests reported in all of 2011.

At this pace, Cuba will end the year with 10,434 political arrests, which would be more than 82 percent of the 5,718 arrests Hablemos Press recorded in 2013.

The numbers differ slightly from those recorded by another human rights group, but the bottom line is the same: Despite the hoopla, despite the propaganda about "change" in Cuba, the repression is as viscious as ever.

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For details on each arrest recorded by Hablemos Press in April, read this.

Political arrests continue at a torrid pace in Cuba; more than 360 in first 13 days of May

The Castro dictatorship's secret policemen never take a break. That's clear from the latest released statistics detailing political repression in Cuba.

The Hablemos Press news agency and human rights group reported Tuesday that in the first 13 days of May, it had recorded more than 360 politically motivated arrests on the island.

The roundups included:

•  The May 8 arrests of 18 activists in Santa Clara to block them from laying flowers at the grave of Juan Wilfredo Soto, a political prisoner murdered by the regime on May 8, 2011.
• This past weekend, May 10-11, some 90 members of the Damas De Blanco, or "Ladies In White," were arrested in several Cuban cities to block them from attending Mass and other activities to commemorate Mothers Day.
• The May 12 arrests of 31 members of the FANTU-UNPACU opposition coalition, leading member Guillermo Farinas, a past recepient of the European Union's top human rights prize. The activists were arrested to block them from gathering for a meeting at Farinas' home.
• On the next day, May 13, 32 members of the Commission of Assistance to Political Prisoners and Family Members (CAPPF) were arrested to block them from gathering at the group's headquarters in Havana. As of Tuesday evening, the whereabouts of at least seven of those arrested were not know.

Other opposition groups reported similar targeting by Cuban police and security forces, according to the Hablemos Press report.

The repression this month comes in the wake of events in April, an especially brutal month for the Cuban opposition.

Hablemos Press said Tuesday it had recorded 884 political arrests in April, bringing the total for the year to 3,478, or less than 400 fewer than the number of arrests reported in all of 2011.

At this pace, Cuba will end the year with 10,434 political arrests, which would be more than 82 percent of the 5,718 arrests Hablemos Press recorded in 2013.

The numbers differ slightly from those recorded by another human rights group, but the bottom line is the same: Despite the hoopla, despite the propaganda about "change" in Cuba, the repression is as viscious as ever.

|---|

For details on each arrest recorded by Hablemos Press in April, read this.

Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez announces name for her new online newspaper

Even if she is not universally admired, even if you think she spends an inordinate amount of time promoting herslef, Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez's announcement of the name for her new online newspaper is a seminal event in efforts by her and others to break the Castro dictatorship's blockade on information for the Cuban people. It could prove as consequential, if not moreso, than her groundbreaking blog, Generation Y.

How to do tell how it's doing, once it launches next week? Just watch how the regime, which for 50 plus years as uses its monopoly on media to control the Cuban people, reacts.

Here's what she wrote on her blog today about 14ymedio:

Yesterday I was arguing with a friend about the importance of journalism in the current Cuban situation. He wanted to convince me to join his opposition party and I reminded him that a reporter should not have any kind of militancy. It was an affectionate conversation, peppered with jokes, but one which made clear the different positions that must be taken by a reporter versus a politician.

Now here I am, remembering the conversation of a few hours ago and posting on my personal blog the face and name of a shared dream. A medium that we hope will support and accompany the necessary transition that is going to take place in our country. A space dedicated to narrating a reality where there are people like my friend, but also other people who applaud the current system, out of conviction, opportunism or fear. A space to report on Cuba from within Cuba.

It will be a difficult road. In recent weeks we have seen a preview of how official propaganda will demonize us for creating this medium. Already, in fact, several people on our work team have received the first warning calls from State Security. However, we have no reason to be hesitant. 14ymedio emerges with nothing to hide. Information regarding its editorial approach, ethics and financial commitments will be available on our web page which will go live on May 21. Although we had hoped to have it working today, I have to admit that technology is, at times, extremely capricious.

For those who are wondering why this name, so unique and different, the fact is that we originate from the fourteenth floor in the fourteenth year. In addition, it includes the “Y” that has accompanied me all these years, and the word “media” with all its journalistic connotations. We wanted to shy away from appropriating the name of Cuba for use on our masthead, and instead we have chosen the most universal of codes: numbers.

Now, all that’s missing is that it pleases you, generates debate, and provides you with information. Thanks in advance!

Mother's Day a day of protests for freedom in Venezuela

The Venezuelan people again took to the streets on Sunday, Mother's Day, to demand justice and freedom for their country.

If's Sunday -- and even if it's Mother's Day -- it's time for more repression in Cuba

Even on Sunday, Mother's Day, political repression in Cuba did not take a break.

Considering it's doubtful that the Castro brothers, and those who do their biddings, actually had mothers, that may not be a surprise.

As you can see below in a tweet from activist and former prisoner of conscience Ivan Hernandez Carrillo, one of many Cuban "Ladies In White," or Dama De Blanco, arrested Sunday was Alejandrina Garcia, who I had the honor meeting last year during her visit to Tampa.

God bless her and others on the front lines in the fight against the Castro regime.

And Happy Mother's Day.

3 Cuban human rights activists violently arrested during protest in Havana

Melkis Faure Echevarría

Rolando Reyes Rabanal

Three Cuban human rights activists were violently arrested by police during a protest in Havana on Thursday, according to the Hablemos Press news agency/human rights group.

Melkis Faure Echevarría, Sonia de la Caridad and Rolando Reyes Rabanal were demanding the release of Cuban political prisoners when plainclothes police agents attacked them.

One officer choked Reyes with a nylon sack he was carrying while another beat him, according to the report.

The three activists were taken to a Havana police station.

As of Friday, their whereabouts were unknown.

Police told Hablemos Press that the activists' names were not found in a database of prisoners.

PHOTOS | Protests, repression continue in Venezuela

Every day, Venezuelans are taking to the streets to protest their country's dictatorship-in-the-making.

Most in the world are not noticing but make no mistake, freedom is in peril on the streets of Caracas and other Venezeulan cities.

It is heartening to see Venezuelans, especially its young, fight for their nation's future.

And frightening to see how the government, putting into action the training and instruction it has received from Havana, continues to respond.

It is imperative for all of us to pay attention. That is our role in this important struggle.

Cuban political prisoner Alcibíades Guerra on hunger strike for almost 70 days

Alcibíades Guerra Marín

Wednesday, May 7, was the 68th day of a hunger strike started by political prisoner Alcibíades Guerra Marín to protest his continued imprisonment.

Guerra, 50, started his protest Feb. 28, after he was convicted on a charge of "disrespecting Fidel Castro," after he shouted Abajo Fidel ("Down with Fidel"). Guerra was sentenced to 1 year in prison.

"Disrespecting Fidel Castro"? As if he deserve anything more.

Regardless, Guerra has been hospitalized  at the National Hospital in Havana because of the effects of his protest, according to report from the Hablemos Press news agency.