The Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation reported June 23 that by its count, there are currently at least 114 political prisoners in Cuban jails, up from 102 at the end of 2013. (Read the list of prisoners here.)
Today and on each of the next 100 days or so I'm going to try to honor these brave Cubans by sharing their names and little about their respective stories. Ever since I started this blog, I have felt it vital to remember their names, names the regime would rather have the world never know. That is the only way to fully grasp the injustices they are suffering.
Today's prisoner is Alieski Calderin Acosta.
Some may object to the inclusion of Calderin on the list of political prisoners after how in October 2012 he was tried, convicted of a charge of "sabatoge" and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Calderin was arrested after he threw a grenade at a state shopping center to protest the prevailing economic situation on the island.
The use of violence is atypical for most political prisoners in Cuba. But as Elizardo Sanchez, head of the human rights commission said last month, they are still political prisoners, armed opposition activists. That’s how Fidel Castro took power, and in Cuba, using arms to topple governments is almost a tradition."
It is a persuasive point.
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