Uncommon Sense

Less than a month before Barack Obama visits Cuba, dozens of activists arrested on another Sunday of repression

Report: 7 of 11 former 'Group of 75' prisoners still in Cuba will have their parole lifted

Via Twitter, former Cuban prisoner of conscience Ivan Hernandez Carillo reports from other the island that the Castro dictatorship has announced that seven of the 11 former Group of 75 prisoners still in Cuba under a type of parole will have the charges against them released on Monday.

The 11 prisoners were among the last to be released in 2010-2011, as part of a three-way deal the dictatorship cut with Spain and the Vatican. Most of the prisoners took exile overseas, but the 11 refused to be forced out of their country. Once they were released, they remained on a type of parole, which meant they risked being sent back to prison to finish their lengthy prison terms. They might have been able to leave the country, but only at the risk of not being allowed to return.

Hernandez did not report many details of the announcement, except for the names of the four former prisoners who still have charges hanging over them: Ángel Moya, Librado Linares, José Daniel Ferrer and Hernandez.

That these four have been singled out is not surprising. Moya is the husband of Berta Soler, leader of the Damas De Blanco, or "Ladies In White," and frequently marches in protest alongside his wife. Ferrer is the leader of the perhaps largest and most active opposition group on the island, the Patriotic Union of Cuba, or UNPACU. Linares and Hernandez also remain activie inn the opposition.

The seven prisoners that presumably will have their parole lifted are:

• Oscar Elias Biscet Gonzalez
• Eduardo Diaz Fleitas
• Hector Maseda Gutiérrez
• Felix Navarro Rodríguez
• Martha Beatriz Roque
• Jorge Olivera Castillo\
• Arnaldo Ramos Lauzerique

To learn more about these brave men, click on their names on the right-hand column.

7 de 11 prisioneros políticos del grupo d los 75 serán liberados d cargos mañana, el resto continuará la condena, anunció la tiranía d #Cuba

— Iván Hdez Carrillo (@ivanlibre) February 21, 2016

#Cuba Los 4 ex prisioneros políticos que permanecerán con la condena son: Ángel Moya, Librado Linares, José Daniel Ferrer e @ivanlibre

— Iván Hdez Carrillo (@ivanlibre) February 21, 2016

In response, Hernandez tweeted that if the dictatorship thinks it can force him to end his opposition activities, it was "mistaken."

Si la tiranía comunista piensa doblegarme se equivoca, permaneceré n #Cuba. Jamás renunciaré a lo q millones d cubanos añoramos: la libertad

— Iván Hdez Carrillo (@ivanlibre) February 21, 2016

Almost 200 Cuban activists arrested on another Sunday of repression

Different Sunday, same repression in Cuba.

Don't expect it to stop just because President Barack Obama is going to Havana. (Yes, the latest arrests come about 48 hours after Obama announced his jaunt to Cuba.)

More than 130 Cuban activists arrested on St. Valentine's Day

Repression in Cuba never takes a holiday, even on a day that celebrates love like St. Valentine's Day.

Arrests reported across Cuba on another Sunday of repression, Feb. 7, 2016

Another Sunday of repression in Cuba, the 40th Sunday Cubans have taken to the streets to demand their rights and their freedom.

A year after Obama promised hope and change for Cuba, the Cuban people are less free

Cuban independent journalist Lazaro Yuri Valle is arrested in Havana on Dec. 10. 2015. (EFE photo via Martinoticias.com)

Even if you believe and/or trust President Barack Obama's assurances that the reopening of relations with the Castro dictatorship in Cuba would make the Cuban people freer, a year later the opposite is true.

Maybe it is too soon to expect results -- the Castro police state/military dictatorship/criminal gang has been entrenched on the island for more than 57 years. But the trend lines suggest the economic, political and religious repression is getting worse, with the regime emboldened with the knowledge that no matter how it treats the Cuban people, a president looking for legacy will look the other way.

Four pieces of evidence that lead to that conclusion:

• Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported an explosion in the number of religious freedom violations in Cuba, from 220 in 2014 to 2,300 in 2015. Christianity Today reported: "Violations of religious freedom affected most denominations in Cuba, although the Assemblies of God (AoG) were hit the hardest. In the government's attempt to restrict Christian churches, 2,000 AoG churches were deemed by the government as illegal, wherein 200 have been demolished." Read CSW's report here.
• The Heritage Foundation, in its 2016 Economic Freedom Index, ranked Cuba No. 177 out of 178 nations ranked. That's just below Venezuela and just above North Korea. Heritage writes: "Cuba’s economy remains repressed by the systemic inefficiency and institutional shortcomings characteristic of a Communist regime. Dominated by state-owned companies connected to the military and political elite, the economy continues to suffer from a lack of dynamism aggravated by cronyism, corruption, and bureaucracy. Non-state sectors have gradually expanded, but the absence of genuine political will for reform leaves business struggling within a poor regulatory framework."
• Reporters Without Borders, in its 2015 World Press Freedom Index, ranked Cuba No. 169 of 180 nations ranked, and the worst in the Americas. That is up one spot from its ranking in 2014 and two spots from its ranking in 2013, when 179 nations were surveyed. Reporters Without Borders writes: "The government tolerates no independent press. Internet access is restricted and tightly controlled. The authorities continue to cite the US embargo as the reason for the low Internet penetration but the activation of Cuba’s ALBA-1 fibre-optic cable with Venezuela proves that it has more to do with a political desire to control the Internet. In addition to the lack of media pluralism, outspoken journalists and bloggers are still subjected to threats, smears, arrest and arbitrary detention. Does the announcement by Cuba and the United States of an historic agreement to restore diplomatic relations offer a ray of hope for Cuban journalists?"
• And most damning, the unofficial Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation reported this week that it had counted at least 1,414 politically motivated arrests of Cuban dissidents in January. It was the second-highest monthly count since January 2010, exceeded only by the 1,447 recorded this past November. EFE reports: "According to the Commission, these acts were orchestrated by State Security and other 'repressive bodies and parapolice elements' in Cuba, where the government 'has been exercising power in an authoritarian manner for 58 years.' The government, the organization says, is resorting more frequently to prolonged arrests and temporary incarcerations without trial, and these can last for months, as a 'policy designed to wear down the opposition members. The number of prisoners is increasing without cessation and in the enormous prison system subhuman and degrading conditions of internment continue to prevail, at the same time that the government continues refusing to accept the cooperation of the International Red Cross and other international NGOs,' the Commission said."

President Obama and his administration explicitly did not make closer ties with Havana, and all the benefits it has brought to the regime thanks to changes in American policy, contingent on human rights improvements in Cuba

The evidence is overwhelming the dictatorship is taking Obama on his word.