Prayers for Harold Cepero on what should have been his 33rd birthday

"Those who remove and crush freedom are the real slaves." - Harold Cepero Escalante (January 29, 1980 - July 22, 2012)

"Harold Cepero Escalante (1980-2012) In honor of his life.
Harold would have turned 33 years old today, January 29"

He was a young man of faith with great courage and conviction who was expelled from University for signing and encouraging other students to sign a petition demanding that the government respect and observe international human rights standards called the Varela Project. Rather than remain silent in the face of this act of repression, as many have done, he spoke out and denounced the expulsion along with others who had suffered the same fate and went on to become a youth leader in the Christian Liberation Movement. Below is a message he sent out to Cubans in the diaspora.



Today there are Masses being held in Cuba, Spain, and the United States to honor the life of Harold Cepero Escalante in response to a request by Ofelia Acevedo. 

Mass for Harold in Madrid, Spain on January 29, 2013

Harold should be turning 33 years old today, but due to the events on July 22, 2012 that have still to be properly investigated and the truth arrived at, remains suspicious due to the dictatorship's behavior and reports of other vehicles involved in the "accident" and the lack of medical treatment for Harold.

Harold and the Paya children holding banner:
"The truth shall set you free." - John 8,32

 Arriving at the truth of what took place on that stretch of road on July 22, 2012 will be an important step on the road to justice. Friends and relatives of Oswaldo and Harold continue to demand an independent investigation into their deaths, but after six months the motives for the dictatorship wanting them dead becomes clear: 

"The fraudulent change that Oswaldo Paya and the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) denounced has three key factors: the military-economic oligarchy, the Catholic hierarchy and some Cuban exile entrepreneurs. This denouncement made by Oswaldo was what triggered the final order to end his and Harold's lives." - Christian Liberation Movement, January 29, 2013